Luckiest Loser
by darkest just before the dawn
Summary: COMPLETED! Who knew that a strawberry fruitcake landing on my head would be the best thing to ever happen to me?
1. Everyone Loves Fruitcakes

Dc-chan: Huzzah. I'm starting another fic while _Define 'Normal'_ is on hold. I'm either insane right now or totally high off of life. I don't really care which one is right now, but I'm happy. Whoopdee-fricking-do. Enjoy! XD

**NEW** and** IMPROVED** and **LONGER** Summary: Everyone has their quirks, right? Some are weirder than others, which is just what 17 year-old Nodoka Sugiyama, a stubborn baker who constantly lives in the shadow of her perfect older sister, is about to find out. When she encounters the odd members of the Host Club through her mutual friend, Haruhi, will she come out unscathed or will they turn her world even more upside down than it already is?

**BLANKET DISCLAIMER:** I DO NOT own Ouran High School Host Club. OHSHC and the characters associated with it (Tamaki, Haruhi, Kyoya, etc) are property of Bisco Hatori. All original characters belong to me. :P

**XXXXXX**

Episode 1 of Luckiest Loser

Everyone Loves Fruitcakes

I sat there in the middle of the small, cramped apartment with a dumbfounded look on my face. My ankles and wrists were bound tightly with rope that was chaffing my skin. My legs were folded under me as I sat there wondering why the hell that this was happening to me again.

To escape or not to escape? That is the question.

Such a stupid question to ask oneself really. Why the hell was I being so dramatic anyway? Oh wait!-I was tied up and being held against my will. That always invokes panic, doesn't it?

Any sane person would try to escape and I was completely sane, the last time I checked, so in a matter of seconds I found myself desperately trying to free myself.

My sudden and fast movements caused me to fall over onto my side, my shoulder hitting the wooden floor painfully. I just knew that tomorrow I would see a huge purple and black bruise there. Not that I cared too much. A bruise would heal in a few days, but my wounded pride in being so easily captured, would take months to recover. Or maybe a couple of weeks in intensive therapy would help.

I squirmed and wriggled on the floor much like an unfortunate worm would if it had somehow found its way out of the moist earth and onto the sidewalk while the sun cooked it alive. Or maybe I was like a slug writhing in agony after some sadistic individual thought it would be funny to dump some salt on me. Anyway, I'm sure my escape attempt looked pathetic. I was rolling around the floor like a raving madman for crying out loud!

Surprisingly enough though, this was not unusual for me. This was almost a daily routine. Almost.

However, just because it was close to normalcy for me…didn't make it any less aggravating.

I glanced over my shoulder at my captor who was busy bustling around in his small kitchen while humming joyfully as he made some tea in a kettle over a small fire on the stove. Usually, it would be polite to stay when someone offered you tea, but politeness was the last thing on my mind.

"I'm so glad you could drop in Nodoka-chan!" He said in a singsong voice as he brought over the kettle and two teacups.

As I tried to roll away, he landed his foot on my back. "Nodoka, you are a guest! It's rude to runaway while your host is trying to serve you." He growled at me.

I gulped as a bead of sweat trickled down my temple. "Ahaha, sorry Ranka-san." I wormed my way to the middle of the room where the table was and struggled to sit up. Once I was vertical, as opposed to being horizontal, he set one teacup in front of me and I watched unblinkingly as he poured the hot tea into it. The grassy aroma from the green tea, Sencha, filled my nostrils as I looked down into the cup of cloudy green liquid.

He smiled earnestly as he sat across from me, happily sipping away at his own cup of Sencha. "So, what brings you here this afternoon?" He asked.

Bastard. He knows why I'm here.

I sighed heavily before staring at him blankly. Ranka-san was a character alright. He was a loud and doting father, but sometimes he got carried away. Like right now for instance…and all those other times he held me here against my will. I guess he thought just because I was somewhat friends with his daughter that this was fine, but to be honest…I hadn't spoken a word to Haruhi in at least three months.

"You know, I think holding people hostage is illegal." I muttered under my breath.

He put a hand over his mouth as he laughed noisily. "Nodoka-chan, what makes you think that I would ever do something so criminal." Ranka-san laughed again.

I had this crazy idea in my head that he was laughing at me and not with me. I could easily assume this because I was not acting like a maniac.

"Ranka-san," I said with pleading eyes, "I just came by here to drop off a strawberry fruitcake for Haruhi from my family's bakery like I usually do." Okay, so I was hyperbolizing a bit. I didn't just drop by Haruhi's place out of the sky, but I did make an effort to stop by at least biweekly just to see how she was doing. Unfortunately, more often than not, he happened to be here instead of her. What a pain in the ass.

He tilted his head to one side innocently. "Is that so?"

I nodded firmly as I tried to wriggle my wrists out of the rope that bound them together. The smell of Sencha was beginning to nauseate me. I wrinkled my nose.

"It feels like I haven't seen you in ages."

"Well, time passes by quickly when you're having fun."

"Oh! So you've been having fun?" He pestered me in a motherly voice while giving me a wicked smile.

"Urm…no…not really. I've been kind of busy."

"With what?" He seemed interested and was still ignoring the fact that he had all but gagged me in his apartment.

I turned my head to the side to look away from him. In all honesty, I didn't really want to talk about my life nor was I in the mood for Ranka-san's game of 20 Questions.

"You can tell me!" He said leaning over the table and sticking his face in front of mine much like an old woman eager to hear the latest gossip. I knew he wasn't going to leave me alone until I told him what was up.

How could I refuse him when he looked at me like that? I spilled the sordid details of my life out immediately.

"My sister's getting married, my parents are freaking out because my grades are terrible, my ex-boyfriend won't leave me alone, and to top it all off…I'm being held captive by a crazy person!"

He tapped his check with his index finger with concern. "My, my. That sounds like a lot on a plate for a seventeen-year-old."

"You're telling me."

ARGH! He's totally neglecting the fact that he's a cause for my problems too!

"Aren't you glad you have me to talk to? If you hadn't so willingly stayed for some delicious tea this would all still be bottled up inside you. Now, drink up. I'm sure you'll feel better after a few sips."

I blinked a few times at him. Was he being serious? Surely, he was messing around with me at this point. How could he be so distracted that he would forget that he had tie my hands and feet together. I wobbled where I sat, unsure of what to do.

"Oh dear, I see the ropes that I bound you with are stopping you from enjoying your tea. How forgetful of me."

"WHAT? You finally admit it! So you knew you were purposefully holding me captive!"

"How can you say such mean things?"

"It comes naturally I guess...from years of teenage cynicism."

"Such a pessimist too! You know, being a teenager was some of the best years of my life. Staying out late, sneaking out of my parent's house, and all the cute boys."

I arched an eyebrow. "If I ever sneaked out of the house you'd be attending my funeral the very next day."

"Your parents are still extremely strict, ne?"

I nodded slowly.

For a moment, I swear I saw concern flash in his playful eyes. Maybe it was a good thing he had forced me to stay here and make small talk with him. It was good to be around an adult who understood my situation and knew how stressful it was to be the younger sister of what my parents called 'their perfect and beautiful eldest daughter'. I could never match up to her; I didn't even come close in the category of looks or academics.

I wasn't even an average student at best, which caused my father and mother much grief. I suppose they were used to my sister getting the highest marks in her grade and expected the same from me. The only talent I had was in the culinary arts. However, I don't think Mori Ogai and Natsume Soseki had cooking recipes in mind when they wrote their poems in the Meiji Era, which was why my Japanese Literature grade was the worst out of all my classes.

As for how I looked, my hair was thin and black with bangs that were constantly in front of my gray eyes. I doubt anyone would ever call me 'pretty' or 'beautiful' like my sister. I was probably average in this area too, but as far as I was concerned that was the least of my tribulations. If you didn't have the brains to get into a decent college, who cared what the hell you looked like? The only thing remotely unique about me was my little piercing fetish. I had two black studs in each ear, a silver ring in my nose and a two-studded eyebrow piercing. I was lucky my parents didn't crucify me when the saw them for the first time. I'm such a lucky little prick to still be alive.

I didn't have a fashion sense like my sister did either. She would parade around in dresses and skirts with matching blouses. I stuck to the simple things like: jeans, shirts, and sweatshirts. Today I was wearing an oversized navy T-shirt with baggy denim shorts, which all looked really awkward on my short and skinny frame. At least a knack for fashion was something my parents didn't give a hoot about or else I'd be locked away in the attic with the rats and spiders.

The sound of Ranka-san's voice pulled my mind down to earth and away from analyzing myself.

"They don't seem like the type to lighten up either. With your sister, Osen, being the way that she is I suspect that they anticipated the same or maybe more from you." Ranka-san said in a drawl.

"Probably." I replied bitterly. Time to change the subject before this conversation goes into dangerous territory. "Can I be untied now? Or are you enjoying this too much?"

He leaned his elbow on the table after he put down his teacup and gave me a calculating stare. Suddenly, he smiled warmly at me. "Only if you plan to serve the wonderful fruitcake you brought!"

"Anything for you, Ranka-san." Just please untie me before my wrists fall off from lack of blood circulation!

He got up slowly, as if he wanted to take his leisurely time, and moved behind me. In a matter of seconds I felt blood rushing back into my wrists and ankles as he undid the rope. I held my hands in from of me and saw them gradually turn from white back to my normal skin tone. All was right in the world, for now anyway…I rubbed my ankles, hoping to get some feeling back in them before standing up. I stretched a bit before going over to the small kitchen counter where the fruitcake was in its pristine white box that on the side was embalmed with the name of my family's bakery in pink cursive: _Sugiyama Bakery. _Then below that was our family's name in black box letters.

I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Ranka-san had returned to his seat and was peacefully sipping tea once more, clearly waiting for me to serve him some cake. I looked hastily through the various kitchen cabinets for plates and utensils. I didn't know if we would be expecting Haruhi or not, but I took three small plates and three forks –not dessert forks, for they had none much to my dismay and my inner baker's disdain- and stacked them neatly on top of the box.

I could smell the sweet strawberries, but after years of working in a bakery I had learned to control my hunger urges to some degree. Working in a bakery might be a little kid's dream with all the pastries, doughnuts, cakes, muffins, and cookies laying around, but after over indulging in junk food in my childhood I cared little for sweets and candies anymore.

"How much longer? I'm dying from starvation!" Ranka-san exclaimed in an overly dramatized voice.

If you don't shut it I'll kill you. How does Haruhi put up with this overgrown child?

"Do you have any cutting knives?" I asked as I began looking through drawers underneath the counter. "Actually, never mind. The cake is soft and pretty thin so I think I can cut it with a fork." I felt almost stupid for voicing my thoughts aloud, but right now I just thinking about getting out of here as quickly as possible. I couldn't afford to miss more work or else my mom and dad would throw fits about how irresponsible I was.

"And remove your shoes!" I heard him banter at me.

"Sorry, but between you holding me hostage and ordering me around I didn't have the time." I picked up the white box and walked over to the entrance of the apartment. I hold the box in one hand as I leaned over to remove my slip on shoes and placed them neatly next to Ranka-san's vibrant red heels.

I took a step forward when suddenly the front door flung open and someone, who was obviously oblivious to their surroundings, bumped into me, knocking the box out of my hands and into the air. I heard the silverware clatter loudly and the plates break in half as they hit the floor. However, I was not amply prepared for what transpired next.

Before I could turn around and yell my head off at the person that had run into me I felt the strawberry fruitcake land on my head and the taste of sweet white icing, strawberries, and cake crumbs on my lips.

**XXXXXX**

_Who wants to guess who bumped into Nodoka? (Like it isn't obvious?)_

Musical Inspiration: _In The Sky_- Grandia III (awesome song and game!)

Dc-chan: As you can tell, this is Nodoka's POV and will be that way throughout the entire story. This is my pathetic stab at a straightforward romance, usually I beat around the bush for 20 chapters or so, but this one will be extremely forthright.

Right now, I'm not going to state the pairing, but it will be obvious in chapters to come. So it's a secret for now. Hehe. P:

Thanks for reading!

NOW REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! Every time you review, I give Hunny-senpai cake! Every time you don't review I send Kyoya's personal bodyguards after you, so you better have a passport to flee the country unless you plan on reviewing! You don't want that, now do you? –wink, wink, nudge, nudge-

Peace out.

P:


	2. A Sticky Situation, Act I

Episode 2 of Luckiest Loser

A Sticky Situation

I stood as still as a statue, maybe I thought if I didn't move nobody would see me. Such a stupid idea really. Of course everyone could see me regardless of what I did or didn't do. A wave of uneasiness came over me and I balled my hands into tight fists.

I felt chucks of the cake slide off of my head, smothering my lanky hair with frosting, as various chunks of the once whole fruitcake fell to the floor.

Slowly I turned around, deciding it would be wiser to confront the cause of this mishap than standing with my feet rooted to the floor like an old stubborn tree, and yell at whoever it was until my voice went hoarse. My dark glare was met with seven pairs of confused eyes staring curiously at me as their owners stood in the doorway with blank expressions. I stiffened again.

Oh shit. There was a whole posse of them. Haruhi was behind them looking extremely annoyed with a vein throbbing on her temple.

"This is why you should knock first!"

She was always so blunt.

Then, as if having a decadent strawberry fruitcake on my head wasn't enough to embarrass the crap out of me, all of the teenage boys were handsomer than the devil himself. I cringed inwardly. I was never too good around boys normally, especially good looking ones. My words were stuck in my throat now as I felt my cheeks turn bright red. I looked down at the floor, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

The awkward silence seemed to roar in my ears.

Ranka-san got up and walked hurriedly over to us and grabbed the blonde-haired teenager, who was staring blankly at me in the doorway with huge violet eyes, by the shoulder before hastily shoving him to the side like he was a rag doll.

The blonde teenager stumbled a bit before landing facedown on the floor in the kitchen with a loud thud. I thought I could hear his pride breaking into little pieces like shattering glass for a brief moment as he looked up with an indignant face at Ranka-san as if he was about to cry. I felt a little bad for him. My sympathy only went so far when I remembered that he was the one who had burst through the door and was the cause for the sticky mess all over my head.

Ranka-san than put on a concerned face. "Are you alright, Nodoka-chan? Sometimes that big bug can be so annoying!"

Bug? I looked around Ranka-san to see the blonde now crouching in the corner looking quite gloomy. Ranka-san did have a way in shaming people. I felt a rush of gratitude towards him.

He turned his attention to his shorthaired daughter, Haruhi. "I hope he didn't do anything to you either?"

Haruhi ignored her father's doting, one could tell she was quite used to him fussing over her.

Ranka-san then busied himself with talking to the other teenage boys cheerily and in an almost flirtatious manner. I could tell from the way that they were dressed that they were accustomed to money, lots of it. Perhaps these were Haruhi's classmates from her high school? I heard from Ranka-san on occasion that it was a school for the exceedingly wealthy, but who they were and their relationship to Haruhi was the least of my concerns right now.

"I didn't expect to see you here Nodoka." Haruhi said passively. Maybe she was trying to make the best out of his humiliating situation while Ranka-san kept her friends occupied by ushering them away from the crime scene.

"Uh…hi Haruhi." I said weakly, unsure of what to do or say than utter that meaningless greeting. My mortification increased with every passing second. I hated looking like an idiot.

"Do you want to use our bathroom to clean up?" She asked before glancing over her shoulder coldly at the blonde who was still sulking in the corner…cultivating mushrooms. "Don't do that here! Grow mushrooms somewhere else!"

To be honest, I just wanted to get the hell out of here. "I'll be fine…" I sounded dizzy. "I'm going to go back to the bakery. Sorry for causing trouble." I brushed past her and exited her apartment; I heard her footsteps behind me so I picked up my pace.

"Haruhi, who was that?" I heard an unfamiliar male voice ask as I ran down the stairs and hit the pavement running without looking back.

…

I felt like my legs were going to turn into jelly and give out from under me when I finally stopped running. My calves and thighs ached like they did after a long fitness run in PE. I hunched over as I put my hands on my knees to catch my breath. With each gulp of air my throat burned, but the burning sensation went away after a few moments of deep inhaling and exhaling. I wiped the beads of sweat from my forehead, which probably wasn't the best thing to do seeing as how in doing do I merely smeared the icing that was already there.

I opened the door to the bakery, hoping to make it past my two co-workers without them seeing me looking like a mess.

They would tease me endlessly if they saw the wreck I was.

The inside of the bakery was cramped and more like a lounge with comfy sofas and chairs scattered about with coffee tables. There was an array of fresh cakes, breads, cookies and pastries on display in glass cases against either wall. Large fruit loaves and croissants and freshly baked were placed in woven baskets near the cash register. The smells of all the delicious and fresh treats were overwhelming, but I could resist the temptation well. Years of experience were on my side after all.

However, it should've been obvious by now that sometimes fate liked to make me miserable. I had a bad feeling in my gut that my day wasn't over yet.

"What happened to you?" Arisa, a thin girl with short brown hair, asked as she lazily sat on the counter by the register with her eyebrows raised. I could tell she was biting her tongue to keep from laughing her ass off at me.

"I don't want to talk about it," I answered dully as I headed straight for the back where I always kept a spare change of clothes just incase I got covered in flour while baking. In the back of my head I vaguely wondered where my other co-worker, otherwise known as my _wonderful_ cousin Mamoru, was currently lurking. He probably got bored and left, not that I cared right now. I just didn't want any else to see me. Arisa was probably giggling like a mad homicidal schoolgirl in the other room by now.

First things first though, I thought as I pushed the mental image of Arisa rolling on the floor laughing out of my mind. I went over to the sink near the stoves in the rear of the store and dunked my head under the streaming water to wash the remnants of the unfortunate strawberry fruitcake out of my hair before washing my face. The lukewarm water felt good as I splashed it against my skin especially considering the fact that I just had sprinted a whole mile from Haruhi's apartment to the bakery. It was like dunking your head in the pool on a terribly hot day.

Then, I entered the office in the back of the bakery where my parents kept their financial records, catering schedule, along with other records and found my spare change of clothes in a plastic bag behind their desk.

I decided to change in there too just because I didn't want to give the whole world a peep show. Although, it wasn't like there was anything to see. I was flatter than a board, but I didn't dislike being that way no matter how much it added to my plainness.

I pulled the nice clean gray T-shirt on over my head, but I decided to leave my shorts on because they weren't dripping in cake and icing. Then I grabbed an apron off the hook outside the office once I was all squeaky clean and put it in. I fumbled with the strings as I tied to around my back. I was relived to not be stick and gross anymore.

I shoved the navy colored shirt into the plastic bag so I could take it home later to wash it before returning to where Arisa was at the front of the bakery.

She had her elbows propped on the counter now and was idly flipping through the pages of some fashion magazine. When I reentered, I saw her brown eyes peer at me from behind the cover of the magazine.

"What?" I demanded hotly.

"Oh, nothing." She said airily, "I was just thinking about how ridiculous you looked covered in cake that's all."

I glared daggers at her, why was everyone so keen on pushing my buttons today? Didn't they have their own lives to worry about? Or was I just some hilarious phenomenon everyone liked to poke fun at?

"Thanks, I love making a fool out of myself for your amusement." I scoffed darkly, furrowing my brows.

"I have to admit, without you my life would be so dreary." She said grinning.

"I guess that's all am good for, eh? Making people feel better about themselves."

She put her magazine aside and gave me a stern look. "Oh come on, Nodoka. You just let everything get to you, you need to relax. You're way too stressed out and you're only a teenager. Seriously, you need to quit taking everything so personal. It's not like the whole world is out to get you."

"I know that. You try having the parents that I have and then we'll see how normal you are after a week or so. They'll drive you nuts. Then there's my sister who is always so perfect and stuff all the-"

"I've heard that story a thousand times. You've been a little edgy since that Kei incident a month ago. You're nothing like your old self."

I gritted my teeth at the name. "Don't use that name around me."

"Sensitive?"

"More like pissed."

"Then take some time off from work and chill. When was the last time you hung out with friends and did normal teenage girl things?"

"You know I can't with my parents breathing down my neck every second of my life."

"Excuses, excuses." Arisa interrupted while shaking her head at me. "You just can't let them get to you. Oh well, I'm guessing Haruhi didn't like the fruitcake considering that you were wearing it when you came barging in here."

"Yea, I bet they don't have that in your fashion magazines. I doubt fruitcake is in style this season or any other season." I retorted while rubbing my neck sheepishly. My nerves were still tingling, but I was much calmer then I had been a few minutes ago. I understood that in her own quirky way Arisa had been trying to help me, but I wasn't in the mood to be consoled in her brutally harsh manner. I was stubbornly set in my ways right now.

She smirked wryly at my joke. "Well, if you aren't doing to do anything you can decorate the Yamazaki's cake they ordered for their daughter's birthday." Arisa said as she picked her magazine back up and began reading it once more.

"Like you're doing anything." I shot back, feeling a twinge of annoyance at how nonchalant she was acting.

"I'm not the baker, I just work the register."

"Why the hell did my parents hire you?"

"Because my mom is good friends with yours."

Slacker.

Freeloader.

She hardly even works.

She just sits around all day looking pretty. Did I envy her for it? Maybe a little.

Lucky for her it was a slow day. We were usually swamped at this time of day and she would be hiding in the back doing her nails while either me or Mamoru –when he was here- would be forced to serve the hungry masses.

That reminded me. Where was my cousin?

"Did Mamoru go somewhere?" I asked while running a hand through my damp hair.

"I don't know. As soon as you left you just took off."

"You just let him take off without asking him where he was going." I blinked dumbly at her. I sighed irritably as I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and tied it with a plain old rubber band.

Arisa shrugged, this conversation was clearly not interesting enough to keep her attention.

I grumbled a little bit more as I began preparing the icing for the decorating the ice cream cake that the Yamazaki's had ordered. It had been placed on the tabletop behind the register in the same kind of white box that Haruhi's fruitcake had been in. I stared at it for a moment, feeling apprehensive. I wanted nothing more than to chuck it at the window in frustration, but I restrained myself now matter how appealing the thought was.

I filled four different tubes with the four different colors of icing: red, pink, green and yellow. They had wanted the cake to be covered in red and yellow flowers with green leaves plus _Happy 10__th__ Birthday Seiko_ written in pretty pink letters. I fought my inner desire to mindlessly squirt the icing all over the cake.

I felt destructive.

As I began squeezing the tube filled with the sickly sweet smelling red icing I grew less concerned about what had transpired at Haruhi's apartment. Baking or just working in the bakery had that affect on me. It was almost therapeutic or maybe it was because it was one of the few things that I took pride in knowing I was good at it. I felt my tensed muscles relax and my tight jaw loosen so my lips weren't pursed together so tightly anymore.

I felt…

Euphoric.

I loved being in my element and I had almost completely forgotten about the fruitcake incident.

While I was finishing the red flowers around the circumference of the cake I heard Arisa fawning over something. Nothing surprising there, she was always going on about something or other.

"Oh, wow! They're a handsome bunch aren't they? Isn't that your friend, Haruhi, with them?" She asked nudging me in my rib and pointing to a group of people outside the bakery window.

"Who?" What now?

Arisa nudged me sharply again as she gazed dreamily out the window.

My eyes reluctantly followed Arisa's eager love struck gawk to the front door as I silently condemned her one-track mind. It was either fashion or boys. Talk about shallower than a puddle on a sunny day.

I was so surprised when I saw them standing outside that I accidentally squeezed the tube too hard and all the icing spurted out all over the cake, ruining it. I'm sure my eyes were wider than saucers at this point, my heartbeat increased dramatically as I gawked stupidly with my mouth hanging open.

This is just too much.

Someone, anyone…please just kill me.

**XXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _This is Love_ by Utada Hikaru (the singer who sings both of the Kingdom Heart's theme songs)

Dc-chan: SQUEEEE! –hugs everyone- I'm glad you like it so far and especially that you like Nodoka. To be honest, I had originally planned for her to be a somewhat shy, reserved and well mannered, but she's turned into just the opposite. It's strange how some things change from the conception of the story to the execution.

I have up to chapter 7 planned out so updates may be quick or erratic depending on my mood and how much free time I have. P:

So now, REVIEW LIKE THE WIND! It's the same deal as last time. Review and I give Hunny-senpai cake and Kyoya's bodyguards won't come after you.

Peace out.

P:


	3. A Sticky Situation, Act II

Chapter 3 of Luckiest Loser

I instinctively ducked under the counter just as the front door swung open and I heard the loud chatter of their voices. My palms got clammy and my heart pounded in my chest like a jackhammer. Why did they have to come here? Why? Why? WHY?

"It looks bigger on the inside!"

"The interior decorating is greatly lacking."

I flinched. Jerks.

"Look at all the different cakes they have Takashi! How many should I buy?"

"Don't get carried away, we only came here so Tamaki could apologize to Nodoka." I recognized Haruhi's annoyed voice instantly.

"Are you done cowering on the floor?" Arisa asked, poking me with her foot.

Her action startled me so that I jumped a little and banged my head against the counter with a loud thud. I then stood up shakily as I rubbed the part of head that was aching in pain. Things were just going from bad to worse now and there was nothing I could do to stop it. This was way out of my hands.

"I was not cowering!" I hissed quietly. "I just dropped something…"

"Right. What did you just happen to so conveniently drop?"

"My sanity…"

"What was that?" She arched one of her eyebrows at me curiously.

"Nothing…" It felt like someone had thrown a rock at my head, the collision with the hard counter was going to leave a huge bruise there. I was in desperate need of an ice pack to stop the throbbing.

"Here, you want to hold my bunny? Usa-chan will make your head feel better." A small blond boy said holding out his stuffed bunny for me.

I shook my head and sweatdropped. "No thanks, I'm a little too old for stuffed animals." It was a lie. I still slept every night with a stuffed red fox, which I had aptly named Kitsune (I had never been an imaginative child…), that my aunt and uncle had given me for my fourth birthday. I preferred to keep that a secret in fear that Arisa or Mamoru would use it against me somehow.

He looked crestfallen with my answer.

"It's not that I don't like rabbits or anything," I said quickly, "It's just that-"

"You like bunnies! Then you can hold him while we eat some cake!" He thrust the stuffed bunny into my arms then bounced over to the glass counter to examine the sweets with a finger pressed to his lips and his brown eyes glowing with excitement.

I stared down at the light pink bunny in my arms in confusion; its beady eyes stared right back at me innocently. Now what? What the hell was I going to do with a bunny named Usa-chan? It sure as hell wasn't going to solve my problems. A therapist or psychiatrist maybe, but a stuffed animal? Highly doubtful, but nonetheless I hugged it in my arms.

Arisa leaned with her elbows on the counter next to the register. "See anything you like?"

"It all looks so yummy, ne Takashi?"

The unusually tall male with short black hair nodded curtly in agreement.

"They have lots of chocolate cakes!"

"We even have ones with strawberries on them." Arisa winked at me evilly before continuing. "There's some with raspberries, blueberries, lemon filling, cheese cake…"

I glared at her from the corners of my eyes as the little blond fidgeted with excitement while his tall companion watched him with a stoic face.

"Are you alright?"

I snapped out of my contemplative daze at the sound of Haruhi's voice.

I blinked at her. "Yeah."

She was holding onto the sleeve of the tall blond who had caused the mishap earlier and was looking guiltily at me. He seemed like a two-year-old who had just been scolded by his mother after he had done something considerably bad. I began thinking he was a bit childish.

He suddenly grabbed my shoulders as a river of tears streamed from his eyes. "I'm sorry Haruhi's friend! I didn't mean to cause you such trouble! You must think I'm a terrible person! I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay," I said quietly, silently wishing he would stop making a spectacle out of himself. Does he always act like this in broad daylight? I couldn't imagine how Haruhi put up with him; he was so much like her father, Ranka-san, that the similarities were almost spooky. Actually, scratch that. It was terrifying to me to imagine another Ranka-san. One was already more than enough.

"Tamaki," a slim boy with glasses started with an strict voice, "I don't think she appreciates being shaken like a rag doll." He had his arms folded across his chest and was standing up straight; he gave off an air that unnerved me with how he presented himself.

The blond, Tamaki, let go of me and bowed regally to me while flashing me a sincerely apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry Princess." He clasped my hands. "Let me make it up to you."

I froze.

Did he just call me…Princess? And was this weirdo holding my hands? I was torn become embarrassment and red-hot hatred. I hated being the center of attention, I hated pet names, I hated it when strangers acted so familiar with me, and I hated holding hands with anyone _especially_ with people I didn't know.

"Nodoka."

"Hmm, what Princess?" He batted his eyes a few times at me innocently.

"My name's Nodoka." I repeated slowly and coldly. "I don't like it when weird people give me nicknames."

"Weird?" He looked taken aback and horrified at the same time. "You think I'm weird?"

I gave him a blunt look as I bobbed my head up and down. Didn't he hear me?

He turned to Haruhi with an appalled expression. "Haruhi, did you hear what your friend just called me?"

"She's not the only one who thinks that." Haruhi answered without a hint of malice in her voice while looking off in another direction to avoid eye contact with Tamaki. "It's a valid point."

"MOTHER!" Tamaki spun around dramatically to face the boy with the glasses. "Haruhi's rebelling again!"

He pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply. "I'm still in high school and somehow I already have children. Where has my youth gone?"

I carefully sidestepped away from the confusing chaos towards Arisa only to overhear her talking vividly with a pink blush across her cheeks.

"We also have pies and cookies." Arisa rattled on to the small blonde cheerfully.

Traitor!

How can she think of customers in a time like this?

The little blond boy got starry eyed as if all his wildest dreams were coming true. It all seemed too much for him to bear as he began pointing out to Arisa which sweets he wished to purchase. She rang up his orders while giggling like a girly idiot. I was simply stunned at the quantity of his purchase: three double layered chocolate mousse cakes, three cheesecakes, two dozen double chocolate chip cookies, one dozen ginger cookies, two cherry pies, and one dozen chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting topped with various colors of sprinkles and toppings. I watched in pure amazement as he then sat down casually and began devouring the sweets on after another while leaning close to the plates as he ate so his fork would have little distance to travel to his mouth.

"This is really good, ne Takashi?"

I nudged Haruhi. "Does he plan on eating all of that by himself?" I couldn't imagine how that much food would fit into someone's stomach. It wasn't humanly possible!

She nodded briskly in response and reiterated what I had said, "All by himself."

I stared on in complete awe as he finished one of the cakes and hastily began working on devouring the other. This guy must have five stomachs or be an alien of some sort. No one I knew could even finish one mousse cake by themselves and here this small boy was contentedly working through a second one. He must be an alien…or something.

"What about this one?" Two voices said in unison from behind me.

I twirled around quickly to see a pair of twins with light brown hair and devilish gold colored eyes hovering over the cake that had a mess of icing covering it…the one that I had accidentally ruined upon seeing them outside the bakery window. They both looked at it with amused expressions before exchanging smug grins with one another. The thought of wringing their necks crossed my mind as they continued to badger on about the cake.

"It looks like a total amateur job."

"You can't even read the writing on it and are those pathetic things on the edges supposed to be flowers or clumps of icing?"

"Horrible execution!"

"It's a botched job!"

I'll give you two something to complain about. Of course I didn't say that out loud. What was I, a scrawny short girl, going to do to two guys who were a good eight or nine inches taller than myself other than kicking them in the shins? My options of retaliation methods were limited.

One of the twins then promptly stuck one of his index fingers in it before slowing raising his sugary frosting covered finger to his lips. His eyes widened slightly as he sampled the sweetness off of his finger with a lick of his tongue. "It doesn't taste half bad…"

The other twin mimicked his brother's actions and an identical look of surprise crossed his handsome face as well.

I didn't know whether to feel complimented or insulted that they thought it would taste like crap. At least it was a step up from their harsh criticism a few minutes ago.

I was still glowering at them.

Soon the others, besides Haruhi, Arisa, the small blond (who was still indulging in the cakes he had just purchased), his tall handsome friend, and myself, were surrounding the poor defenseless cake with dessert forks in their hands."Are they always like this?" I asked, turning to face Haruhi.

"It's part of their project." She responded.

"Project?"

"Their project is in an effort to better understand how common people live however, they tend to just make a mess out of things and cause more trouble." She exhaled heavily.

I was still confused. "Common people?"

"They're rich bastards. Remember a few months ago in middle school when I told you I had been accepted at Ouran High School on a scholarship?"

"Yeah." How could I? Ouran was a school that was renowned all over the city for its students with excellent lineage and superb wealth. Most of the top ranked students in middle school had tried to get in, but only Haruhi was accepted. Not that I had tried for the Ouran scholarship or anything, it was far out of my reach unless they were willing to accept a student whose only ambition in life was to be a cook.

"These are my classmates from there. Through a series of unfortunate events I've had to join their club until a certain debt is repaid."

"Ah, no wonder they're so insensitive." I looked back over to the bickering bunch of 'rich bastards'. So these were her new classmates, huh? Clearly being wealthy didn't make up for a lack of manners. "That still doesn't justify the way they act though." I laughed nervously. "What club can you possibly be in with these guys?"

"The Host Club."

"Eh? They're hosts?" My mind reeled. What on earth was Haruhi doing in a club where men entertained women? I didn't dare ask her what the 'unfortunate series of events' that led her to being forced to join the club were. It could be something psychologically scarring for all I knew.

"Sorry for causing you trouble, I should have known from experience that they would start something like this."

"Looks like they're having fun though." I watched as the twins tried to force-feed Tamaki more cake before the realization dawned on me that they were making an absolute mess. "HEY! CUT THAT OUT! I'm not cleaning up after you guys!"

"Actually," Arisa said appearing by my side with a broad grin, "you do have to clean up after them. They are our customers after all."

"I refuse!" I made an 'X' with my arms across my chest. "No way!"

…

It's strange the way things turn out sometimes. One second you're making a firm and unwavering stance then the next thing you know you've got a mop in your hand and a bucket near your feet while cleaning up somebody else's mess. The world is indeed an unfair and cruel place, it's surprising that I haven't learned that by now.

Stupid rich kids. Stupid customers.

"Nodoka, right?" One of the twins leaned his elbow on my shoulder deviously.

I felt a burning murderous rage towards him as I leaned on the handle of the mop. "What do you want?"

"Can we have a tour of the bakery?"

It didn't take me a second to mull it over in my mind. "No." I dipped the mop back into the soapy bucket and began cleaning once more. Just leave already! I want this miserable day to end! I fought the urge to dump the soapy, cold water on his head.

"Why not?" The other whined while draping his arm around his brother's neck, their eyebrows furrowed over their mischievous eyes.

"Because," I said flatly, "all you guys have been doing is causing me problems all day." That was the understatement of the day.

"We promise to be good." They persisted in unison.

"Quit bothering her." Haruhi warned. "She doesn't have to if she doesn't want to."

Much to my dismay however, the other Host Club members seemed to become keen on the idea too.

"A tour on the inner workings of a common bakery could be quite interesting." The boy with the glasses on put his fist under his chin thoughtfully.

"I wanna see! I wanna see!" The little blond said jumping up and down while hugging Usa-chan. "Will there be snacks after the tour?"

"Ah, yes!" Tamaki, the only one I knew by name at this point, agreed energetically. "What a terrific idea!"

"No way."

"B-but why not?"

"Don't you have better things to do?" I huffed at him in an irritated voice as I tightened my grip on the mop handle. "Besides, it's almost time to close up. I don't have the time even if I wanted to."

"So, you're saying if you had the time you'd give us a tour?" The twins said with matching smirks.

"N-no! That's not what I meant to say-"

Arisa put her hand over my mouth to silence me as she smiled precariously at the twins. "Maybe if you come next weekend Nodoka will have more time to show you guys around seeing as how she doesn't do anything, but bake and mope around all day anyway. We'd be delighted to see you then."

What was she doing? What was she thinking?

I cursed her over and over again inside my head.

"We'll see you next Sunday then?" Arisa asked happily.

Haruhi ushered the lingering Tamaki out of the bakery after he confirmed that they would be back, leaving Arisa and myself alone for the first time in a couple of hours.

The mop clattered on the floor when I dropped it before walking over to a dark blue couch and flopping down on it. I buried my face in the cushions. I groaned as I grasped the cushion's fabric between my fingers. "Do you enjoy torturing me?"

Arisa chewed on her bottom lip before answering, "No, but I enjoy the company of good looking men."

Figures, typical Arisa. Although I had the sneaking suspicion she had some other ulterior motive for inviting them back next weekend. However, I had absolutely no desire to uncover what she had in mind. I didn't want to know nor did I need to know.

"Relax." She came over to the couch and lightly patted me on the back. "You'll be fine as long as you don't do anything else stupid infront of them like getting covered in strawberry fruitcake, dive under a counter, make a fussy scene…"

"Enough! I get it!" My cheeks were pink from being flustered. The weekends were usually a source of comfort for me because it was a short break from school, but I dreaded next Sunday with every fiber in my being.

**XXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _PRIDE_ by High and Mighty Color

Dc-chan: THUS CONCLUDES NODOKA'S DAY OF MISERY (but there are more to come)! Sorry for the ellipsis abuse in this chapter. I promise it won't happen again. :B Is it just me or is hard to keep track of nine different characters in a chapter? Well, it is.

Moving on! My goal is to update this at least once a week, mostly on weekends (the reason I was late this week was because I had SATs on Saturday and they gave me a huge headache afterwards), but maybe more once I get into the swing of things. Thank you for the support so far! Now do me a HUGE favor and press that little button that says 'review' down there….

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Aha! There it is…now press it ! Okay, I'm gonna stop being a weirdo now. P:

Rock on!


	4. The Sweet Deal

Dc-chan: This chapter kind of focuses on Nodoka's home life (her siblings, parents, and etc). Sorry if it's a bit word heavy, I just wanted to show what her family was like and why she's sort of the way she is. I've also been worried that she's coming off a bit too mean. Eeh ,whatever. She is the way she is. X3

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program…

**XXXXXX**

Episode 4 of Luckiest Loser

The Sweet Deal

_I was in the darkness surrounded by…giant cakes, pastries and cookies. I stood in the middle of a brownie that felt spongy underneath my feet. _

_How bizarre._

_I tried walking forward, but my feet began sinking into the brownie. I flailed my arms around like a maniac as it felt like I was sinking into quicksand._

_I felt two pairs of hands grab my arms and hoist me up. _

_"She almost sank, what an idiot."_

_"You should be more careful, idiot."_

_"Who are you calling an-" I spun around to see the twins standing behind me with identical Cheshire cat grins._

_These guys saved me then insulted me? What the…? Wait…why were they here?_

_They both shrugged as I remained silently stunned. _

_"Not even a thank you? How rude." They scolded me in unison._

_One of them pointed upwards. "Uh-oh! It's the Bunny Ship!" He grabbed his brother's hand and they darted away in the opposite direction._

_I directed my eyes up and my face turned white upon seeing a bright pink bunny-shaped UFO flying through the air with the small blonde boy and his tall dark haired friend piloting it._

_"Hey!" I called after the twins loudly and started chasing after them. "Don't leave me here!" But they were already out of my sight and I was left alone with the oddly frightening Bunny Ship flying over my head._

_"Takashi, let's fire the bunny ray, ne?" The small blonde boy chirped as he hugged Usa-chan to his chest. "I wanna turn her into a bunny like Usa-chan!"_

"NOOOOOOO! I DON'T WANNA GET HIT BY THE BUNNY RAY!"

I suddenly jolted awake and fell out my bed with a loud thud, pulling my sheets and pillows down with me. My limbs were entangled in my bed sheets and I could feel the cold sweat on my forehead as I lay sprawled rather ridiculously on the floor of my room. Good thing no one was around to see that. I laid in the darkness of my room for a few minutes while panting a bit as beads of perspiration trickled down the side of my face.

I felt so lightheaded and tired after such an exhausting dream that I decided to hell with it, I'll sleep on the floor. Climbing back into bed would take too much effort.

Morning came far too quickly as I found myself shielding my eyes from the sunlight peaking in through the curtains in my bedroom as my alarm clock went off. I reached my hand up and turned it off, I couldn't stand that alarm clock noise.

I lazily got up and trudged downstairs and soon I was sitting at the kitchen table with a bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other as I continuously shoveled bite after bite of my breakfast into my mouth. My mind wasn't focused on the upcoming classes I had that day at school or how I was going to explain my increased slumping performance to my teachers or the parent-teacher conference that had been scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

Instead the faces of each Host Club member had been flashing in front of my mind much to my personal displeasure since I had woken up twenty minutes ago. Their handsome faces keep popping up in my head making me uncharacteristically blush a deep shade of red.

It had been four days since I had encountered them and Haruhi at my family's bakery and each passing day was a reminder of how much closer the weekend was and that I was being forced into giving them a tour of the bakery. On the calendar in my room I put a big red 'X' on every day that passed, bringing me closer to –what I had proclaimed- Dooms Day, which was circled and labeled accordingly so. I didn't dare tell my parents this though, they would have kittens if the caught me showing anyone around the bakery in fear that someone might try to steal recipes or something like that.

All of this constant thinking and dreading was giving me a headache.

I paid little mind to my mother behind me who was busily heating up breakfast for my little brother, Tetsushi, who would be arriving at the table in…

Three…

Two…

One…

CRASH!

I rolled my eyes, little brothers.

Out of corners of my gray eyes I saw my younger brother walking towards the table with a fist rubbing the sleep out of one of his eyes and disheveled black hair. He sat in the chair across from me at the table stretched his arms over his head before yawning. Normally, had I been any other over adoring older sister like Osen was I would've thought my him cute in moments like this, but I knew the truth…he was a brat who always got his way. Being the youngest he was spoiled and pampered beyond belief.

My mother gave him a quick kiss on the head before she placed a steaming bowl of rice in front of him. I mentally gagged at this point. Mother was never that affectionate with me, only towards my brother and sister.

Somehow being the middle child had crossed me out of the family equation or maybe it was because I wasn't up to her or father's expectations. Another contributing factor to me being the black sheep of the family was that I was completely ordinary looking. My mother was gorgeous with flawless skin and my father was as handsome as a man could be. Both Tetsushi and Osen took after my parents with their livid brown eyes and straight jet-black hair. Me, on the other hand, had somehow ended up with murky colored eyes and stringy hair that came with long bangs that covered my boring eyes most of the time--this description was courtesy of my scrutinizing mother. Oh well, I got over it years ago. It still stung at times though, but what could I do? I was content not being the favorite child, I preferred being invisible to them most of the time. Such was the life of a middle child I supposed.

My eight-year-old brother began eating his breakfast, but every few seconds or so he'd glance up at me from across the table as if he was about to burst out laughing.

As I finished the last of my rice, if it had not been for my mother's presence right behind me, I would've slammed down my bowl in annoyance, but instead I gently placed it onto the table and neatly laid my chopsticks next to it. I leaned over the table as I placed both of hands around my bowl of miso soup. "What?" I hissed as I held the bowl to my lips and took a sip.

A grin tugged on his lips and he replied in a quiet tone. "I heard you scream last night and fall out of your bed. Did you have a nightmare, Nodoka-neesan?"

I almost choked as some miso soup dribbled down my chin.

My mother shot a disapproving look at me.

"Shut up, Sushi!" I snapped back under my breath as I wiped the soup off of my chin with the palm of my hand. I knew Sushi wasn't the best insult to hurl at him (another demonstration of my lack of imagination). He's heard it a million times before from me, probably ever since he was born, but it was the only thing I could call him with my mother circling around the kitchen like a hawk. Had she not been present I would freely have called him something much worse.

He stuck his tongue out at me, obviously settled in his preteen ways.

I gave him a stern look. I kept my voice low so our mother wouldn't overhear. "You're so immature. Quit acting like a little kid."

"I AM a little kid." He retorted, but obviously he was too young to realize that being a 'little kid' was nothing to be proud of.

"Oh really?" I poked him on the forehead with my chopsticks. "More like a little cretin if you ask me."

"Hey!" He said parrying my chopsticks with his own. "I'm not a crustacean!"

Thus began an epic chopstick battle. Of course years of experience were on my side, but Tetsushi was quite an accomplished warrior for an eight-year-old. What he lacked in experience he made up for with tenacity. He attacked and I blocked expertly by catching one of his sticks between mine before releasing it. I twirled them in my hand in a little flourish and smiled, daring him to make his next move.

Abruptly, our mother swooped down on both of us and snatched away our fighting utensils angrily. "It's seven in the morning you two! Your father is still sleeping so knock it off!"

We both watched warily as she stomped over to the trash can and threw our disposable chopsticks away.

Tetsushi and I exchanged strangely bemused glances with one another before convulsing into a fit of giggles at the table. I guess little brothers could be fine some of the time. The keywords here being some of the time.

"I don't see what's so funny Nodoka." My mother said quickly. "You're already in enough trouble as it is with your grades."

I propped my elbow up on the table and blew a strand of hair out of my face as I rested my chin in my upward facing palm. Here she goes again. Couldn't she save her rants for latter in the day?

"Are you listening to me?"

"Yeah…"

Tetsushi stood up and left the table, leaving half a bowl of rice and an entire bowl of miso soup untouched. Smart kid. I couldn't blame him for not wanting to get in the middle of another mother-daughter argument.

My mother put her hands on her hips as she paced the length of the kitchen. "I honestly don't know what it will take to get through to you. You fail to realize how important your education is. Don't you want to go to a good college like your sister? Don't you want to be engaged to a nice, wealthy man like she is?"

Not particularly.

"Osen never gave us this kind of trouble. She was always at the top of her class, always exceeded what was expected of her. I just wish some of that motivation and drive would've rubbed off on you. Your father and I were very disappointed when your teacher called us to have a conference concerning how poor your grades were and this isn't the first time this has happened either! If you don't get your act together your father and I may have to inflict some kind of punishment that will get through to you." She rambled a little more about how remarkable Osen was compared to me before turning her full attention back to me. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

I bit my bottom lip to prevent myself from saying anything stupid. I felt a salty wetness oozing into my mouth and it took me a second to notice I was biting down on my lip so hard it was bleeding.

She folded her arms across her chest as she continued to give me a cross look. "Coincidentally, your father and I have been talking about this recently and have determined a punishment if you fail to bring up your grades by the time your next progress report comes out."

I went pale. I had a haunting feeling about what she was going to say next.

"If there is no improvement in your grades you won't be able to work at the bakery, is that understood?"

I jumped to my feet. "But that's-"

"-Not fair?" She finished for me while tossing her hair over her shoulder and swiftly picking the bowls off the table to wash them. "Then you better work harder in school. Even Tetsushi has better study habits than you. Working at the bakery is a privilege, not a right and if you want to keep working there then you have to pick up your grades."

I balled my fists at my sides and gritted my teeth together. Why was it she couldn't understand that I wasn't the model student like my sister? Sure, my grades were far below average, but it sincerely wasn't from a lack of trying. Okay…maybe I was a bit of a slacker, but even when I tried to hit the books the information just wouldn't stick. It wasn't my fault!

She turned her back to me as she faced the sink. "Now, get ready for school."

I bowed my head in submission. What could I do? There was nothing I could do, but stick this out and hope for the best. I walked out of the kitchen slowly and spied Tetsushi sitting on the stairs to the second floor giving me a sympathetic look.

"You like the bakery a lot, don't you?" He asked as I walked past him on the stairs.

I ignored him as I made my way up to my room. I turned the doorknob with a sigh and walked into my bedroom. The sheets and pillows were still strewn about the floor from when I fell out of bed after that horrid dream.

A mental image of the small blonde piloting a bunny shaped spaceship came back to my mind as I changed into my school uniform. I inwardly cringed as I pulled my light blue, black and white plaid skirt up to my waist. I pulled a white short sleeved shirt on over my head then put a sleeveless light blue sweater over it. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and let the stray strands frame my face as I grabbed my bookbag and slung it over my shoulder on the way out of my room with a grimace on my face.

How the hell was I going to focus at school today with this insanity floating around in my head?

…

At long last the school day was over! However, that didn't excuse myself from running straight home. No, not at all. Due to the upcoming Cultural Festival I had to stay three hours after school and help my classmates run through ideas. Even after that time we still hadn't decided on anything. The class representative finally decided to dismiss us even though we didn't get anything accomplished. It didn't really matter, we still had a few months to think of something for the festival. My class was really making too big of a fuss over it.

The sun was already beginning to set as I dragged myself home with heavy feet. My bookbag was weighted down from the amount of textbooks and notebooks that were stowed away in it making m shoulder reasonably sore.

I hadn't been able to think of anything all day with the looming remnants of the dream replaying in my head and my mother's threat.

I pushed the dream out of my mind as I scrunched my nose at the horrible thought of not being able to work in the bakery. That would crush me if that happened. Baking was one of the few joys in my life and I didn't like it being used against me. I would have to think of something…a clever idea or plot to avoid such a fate would be ideal. However, it seemed inescapable at this point.

Think, think, think…

I had to think of something. I had to!

As I walked down the sidewalk, pondering what I could possibly do I saw Haruhi on the other side of the street carrying grocery bags and suddenly the solution hit me like a ton of bricks. I almost felt silly for not considering it before now. Haruhi could help! She was smart and studios unlike myself. If anyone could find a way to smash useless school knowledge into my head she could.

"Oi! Haruhi!" I waved my arms around to catch her attention, despite how foolish I appeared to people walking by. There was no time to worry about what they thought when my baking career was at stake.

She stopped mid-step and looked at me with her head cocked to one side. "Nodoka?"

I glanced both ways before running across the street with a stupid wide grin on my face. "How are you, Haruhi? Want help carrying those groceries?"

She gave me a blank expression before replying bluntly. "What do you want?"

My smile completely faltered. Crap, she caught me. How could she be so perceptive? It wasn't natural!

"Well..umm…I was wondering if you could possibly tutor me…" I started in an aggravated tone.

"Tutor you?" Haruhi raised an eyebrow at me. "Sorry, but I can't. The Host Club keeps me pretty busy and I'm sure that if you put in the extra hard work by yourself you won't need my help. Besides, I have my own studies to worry about. Not to mention all the chores I have to do because my dad usually comes in late from work."

I grumbled bitterly for a moment. Of course she wasn't going to willingly agree, I was going to have to use my awesome persuasive skills here. Drastic times called for drastic measures.

I raised my clenched fists in determination. "I'll give you a strawberry fruitcake in payment for your services!"

She looked off to the side as she thought about it. "How often will you need my help?" She asked in a conflicted voice.

My plan was working.

"Once a week would be great." I answered.

Haruhi exhaled heavily as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "…Fine."

I was so ecstatic that I hugged her. "Thanks! You have no idea the trouble you'll be saving me."

"I'm only doing this because I feel guilty about causing you trouble on Sunday. I know those guys are a handful."

"So you're not just doing this for the strawberry fruitcakes?" I said pulling away with a look of mock surprise. Haruhi was always the type to pretend that the reasons she was doing something was not out of her own material gain. I appreciated this about her, but I knew she had a craving for strawberries. I let it be though, as long as she was going to help save my skin from exile from the bakery I was eternally grateful. No amount of baked goods would ever be able to show her how thrilled I was. I mentally noted that the first cake that I was going to make for her was going to be so satisfying that she wouldn't be able to eat anything else all day.

**XXXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _Umbrella _by Dir En Grey (LOVE THAT SONG! I was listening to it while writing Nodoka's dream :3 Not all the Host Club members were in her dream though, I didn't want to drag that out too long so I cut it fairly short)

Dc-chan: I tried my best to reply to everyone's review. I apologize in advance if I didn't PM you (I've only recently found out the wonders of PM a month ago and I've been a member of this site for more than a year). The next chapter is the tour of the bakery! Hopefully it will be up sometime during the weekend. :D

Peace out.

P:


	5. Don't Panic

Dc-chan: LOOK! I did something productive! I think I deserve some gold stars.

**XXXXXX**

Episode 5 of Luckiest Loser

I rubbed my eyes as sunlight crept into my room before stretching my stiff arms over my head. My hair was a mess with my bangs swept across my face and strands of unruly hair sticking up.

I didn't want to get out of bed so I just lay there. It was so warm and cozy like a personal fortress of solitude made out of blankets and pillows.

My eyelids got heavy and I could feel myself slipping back into sleep however, a sudden furious knock on my door and the voice of my screeching mother woke me up.

"YOU HAVE WORK TODAY, REMEMBER? You said you'd fill in again today. You've already slept in for twenty minutes and the bakery opens in thirty!" She furiously pounded her fists on my door again.

I grumbled some swear words under my breath incoherently as I turned on my side and pulled one of my pillows over my head to shut her voice out of my ears. It was way too early in the morning for this kind of verbal abuse.

I'm not hearing this…

I can't hear her…

I'm still sleeping…this is a dream…

Next thing I knew my pillow was being pulled away from my grasp and my mother was screaming into my ear. I was used to this kind of treatment so my eardrum remained shatter free and intact. However, the volume was still paralyzing. Sometimes I would muse myself when I was younger thinking that my mother was part banshee, but even then I knew that was highly improbable. She's a mother and all mothers are painstakingly loud… right?

She shook my shoulder roughly, "Nodoka, you have to be at the bakery in less than half an hour. What were you thinking sleeping in this late?"

I turned onto my back and scratched my head as I gave her a blank look. Her brows were furrowed above her narrowed eyes as she gave me a pointed expression. Her lips were pursed together tightly in an angry pout and her cheeks were rosy from yelling at me. I shoving her face in front of me was a constant reminder that I would never resemble her in any aspects. She was so pretty, even when worked up in a rage, and I was so…so horribly normal.

Geez, what an arbitrary thought at a time like this!

I finally gave into her insistent demands and heaved myself out of bed while scowling darkly in her direction.

She ignored my scowl and rattled on, "You need to learn to be more responsible. Your father and I are counting on you and you slept in! I told you last week that today we're picking up Osen at the airport so-ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?"

She's a real raving lunatic in the mornings sometimes.

I automatically bobbed my head up and down as I tugged at the hem of my baggy sleep shirt. In all honestly though, I had forgotten that today was the day that Osen was coming back to visit from college. It wasn't because I hadn't been listening last week when she told me, but it was more as if I had a knack for forgetting such pointless information. What did I care if my sister was visiting? All that meant was for me was that my parents would have another excuse to badger me about how well she was doing and how I paled in comparison next to her. I was never going to escape this never-ending circle of unfulfilled expectations.

After my mother left my room I changed into a pair of baggy denim shorts and a red shirt before scuttling downstairs. If I wasn't out of here as quick as my mother wanted me to be I would get yelled at again, I know this from experience. When she told you to do something you better sure as hell do it or you'd get your head bitten off. She was just so pleasant like that.

At the bottom of the stairs I found my pair of sandals and slipped them onto my feet before grabbing the keys to bakery off of key rack near the front door.

"Aren't you going to have breakfast?" My little brother, who was all dressed to go to the airport with my parents, asked me in a loud voice from the hallway.

He didn't get that I didn't have any time for breakfast. If I hung around for too long our mother would have another go at me.

Ah. Decisions, decisions.

I could feel his eyes watching my back as I opened the front door, but I didn't respond. I left the house and closed the door behind me without so much as glancing back at him.

The instant I started walking on the sidewalk I began feeling terribly guilty. Tetsushi didn't deserve the hostility I displayed a second ago towards him, but I had a feeling that he understood what was going on even if he was only eight-years-old. He was pretty sharp.

Besides, neither of them had any clue that today was the dreaded day that I was going to have to give those Host Club members a tour of the bakery. However, that fear was nothing in contrast to my fear for my mother's wrath.

Luckily, the bakery was only a few blocks away from where I lived. It was in a small commercial shopping district that had some clothing stores, a coffee shop, a pet store that had happy-go-lucky puppies jumping around behind the front window, and a few other miscellaneous shops here and there.

The smell of fresh coffee grounds wafted around the air making my nose tingle as I stifled a yawn.

It should be against some law to get up this early on a weekend.

At this point I didn't know if I would make it through the morning without a stimulant of some sort.

Five minutes later I found myself exiting the coffee shop with a warm cup in-between both my hands as I cautiously took little sips of the scalding hot liquid. As I took a sip I immediately felt my senses perk up a bit.

My change jingled in my pocket as I crossed the street to my family's bakery to open it. I hold the cup of coffee in one hand as the other dug into my pocket to fish out the keys. I pulled out the key chain and fiddled with it for a moment until I found the right key then proceeded in unlocking the front door to the bakery.

I flipped the light switches up lazily as I placed my coffee down on the counter near the register.

It was then that the blinking of the answering machine by the cordless phone on the wall next to the light switches caught my attention. It wasn't unusual to see this; it meant that people had either phoned in orders of baked goods that they wanted or it was Mamoru, that good for nothing cousin of mine, phoning in sick…again.

I pressed the button that read 'play' near the blinking light before picking up my cup off of the coffee.

The automated voice of the answering machine soon resonated through the walls of the bakery. "You have twenty-six new messages…"

My eyes widened in shock and I accidentally spurted out the coffee that was in my mouth all over the floor in disbelief at the number of messages on the machine.

The thought of the Host Club coming today was shoved into the back of my mind as I furiously began writing the orders down furiously on a notepad with a pencil as I heard them on the answering machine.

I tied my messy hair back as my eyes reread the orders I had written down; it was time to get down to work.

* * *

I just finished putting two trays of scones into an oven when I heard the familiar click clacking of high heels on the floor as my wrist watch beeped, indicating it was noon; time for my lunch break.

"You already started? Good job, Nodoka-chan! I'm so proud of you!" Arisa exclaimed jovially as she popped her head into the kitchen with a cheery smile and gave me a thumbs-up. Of course she was happy…she had the option of sleeping in. She was probably well rested while I was getting my energy from the coffee I had had this morning.

I washed the flour off of my hands in the sink before drying them on my apron.

"Could you possibly be less helpful?" I frowned at her as I entered the front room of the store.

"Do you want me to try? I'm sure it's possible."

"Egh, never mind…" I slapped my forehead and gave her a seething look. I couldn't help, but feel a little jealous though. She was a junior college student who moved out of her parents' house two years ago and hasn't assumed any responsibility since then. She was like a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl. Sometimes I wished that I could be as carefree as her, but I wasn't afforded such a nice luxury.

Arisa tapped her cheek with her index finger thoughtfully and stared at me.

"What?"

She shrugged. "You seem pretty calm today. I thought you would be freaking out."

"Why would I be freaking? I have too much work to do so I don't have time to freak about anything." Was I forgetting something? I bit my bottom lip in an effort to remember.

"Isn't today when these handsome boys said they'd come over for a tour?" She reminded me in a knowing tone and she laced her fingers together and rested her chin on top of them. Arisa shot me a mischievous grin.

I slumped my shoulders forward as I leaned against the counter then slowly slid down to the floor with my legs folded under me. Oh right… _that_. I wanted to band my head against a wall because I felt so stupid for forgetting about it. I even had it marked on my calendar for crying out loud! Today was definitely not a brilliant day in the history of my life.

I was a genius! No joke. They should name a holiday after me. They could call it 'In Honor of Nodoka's Pathetically Short Term Memory Day' or something, I'm sure a city council could think up a wittier name than I did though.

I groaned as I buried my head in my hands. "What am I going to do?"

"Better think of something fast because there they are."

I tilted my head up to see them standing outside the bakery. Tamaki, the twins and the small blonde appeared utterly excited while the other two seemed vaguely amused.

"Princess!" Tamaki said lavishly as he gracefully stepped through the front door. "We're come for the tour to further expand on knowledge on commoner's so we can better understand Haruhi. However, Haruhi doesn't believe in our mission objective so she will not be joining us today!"

I hugged my knees to my chest in disappointment. My only shimmering hope to keep myself from losing my sanity around these guys had opted out. The world was indeed a dark and cruel place. I should've known by now that Haruhi would've thought their idea was completely pointless and wouldn't have bothered herself by tagging along.

I moaned. "Haruhi, why?"

"Now listen up men," Tamaki prattled on with his hands on his hips authoritatively, "this tour is for educational purposes! We cannot allow our selves to be sidetracked for Haruhi's sake!"

The twins and the small blonde boy saluted.

Tamaki whirled around enthusiastically. "So then, we would-"

"Go home." I growled menacingly. "I'm on my lunch break."

"What's for lunch?" Tamaki and the twins chorused together without any sense of appropriateness. Their blatant disregard for everyone but themselves was infuriating.

"What do I look like to you? Your maid? Your servant? Your cook?"

Arisa ruffled my hair playfully. "Now, now Nodoka-chan! Play nicely with our guests." Then added sneakily out of the corner of her mouth into my ear so only I could hear her, "You don't want to get into trouble again with your mother, do you? They're customers too, drop dead gorgeous customers. Can't you be nicer?"

I snorted. "Unlike you, I don't base my customer bias on looks." Jerks are jerks no matter what; lineage and wealth don't matter as long as you have a bad personality. I kept this tidbit to myself; I didn't trust myself to say it quietly enough so they wouldn't overhear. Sure, I didn't exactly like them however, I wasn't the type to hurt peoples' feelings purposefully.

She gave me those eyes –you know the kind- the big, watery puppy dog eyes. The kind that makes you quiver in guilt and feel like you're the worst person on the planet.

I rolled my eyes and grimaced, "Fine."

When I turned my attention back to the Host Club members another twinge of annoyance shot up my spine as I saw the twins lounging comfortably on a couch while staring at me with expectant eyes, like they suspected from the beginning I would give in.

Ten painful minutes later I found myself serving them scones, sandwiches, and muffins. The twins kept changing their order every few seconds and taunted me by calling me 'Nodou-chan'; in revenge I decided to add all their orders, whether they ate them or not or if they serious about ordering them, to their bill. Tamaki asserted on trying almost everything, making their bill skyrocket even higher. Luckily the boy with glasses was easy going enough, he just wanted coffee and a sandwich. The small blonde boy ate three cakes like it was nothing, but it was his friend that I wondered about.

He sat there silently next to his friend and wasn't eating anything.

I fidgeted and tugged at the hem of my apron. His presence intimidated me, he was frighteningly tall and I was just two inches over five feet. Even though he was sitting down we were almost at eye-level.

"Can I get you something to eat?" It was an innocent question really, but I felt like an idiot for asking it.

"He likes oriental food, ne Takashi?" The little boy piped up with an innocent grin.

He tilted his head slightly up to look at me –like I said before, we were almost at perfect eye-level already- and said simply, "Natto?"

I thought for a moment. I remembered there being some packages of the fermented beans somewhere in the back room since my father had a particular liking for them and would typically enjoying eating them during his breaks. "Would you like soy sauce and rice with them?"

Takashi, whom I soon found out was nicknamed Mori-sempai and his friend was Hunny-sempai, nodded.

I dashed into the back room and instantly found my father's stash of natto beans tucked away in a small storage room near the desk and my personal stash of pocky. Pocky was the only kind of snack I liked now, but even then I rarely had it. Besides, with serving six Hosts and putting up with Arisa's nagging that I be more polite I didn't have the effort to make a proper lunch for myself. I took a box of pocky for myself and stuffed it into my apron pocket before continuing my mission of making Natto with rice and soy sauce for Mori. I then spent a little bit time in the kitchen cooking some rice before frantically searching through the cupboards to find soy sauce. After a few minutes of waiting for the nice to be done, I put scooped some of it into a bowl then put the Natto and soy sauce on top.

I returned feeling exasperated and handed him the bowl of steaming rice and Natto before wiping away the beads of sweat on my neck.

"Thank you."

I prayed inside my head that it met his taste, I didn't want him to think me as a poor cook.

I guess he thought it was fine since I heard no complaints. I was relieved as I fished he pocky out of my pocket.

"Pocky? That's hardly a nutritional lunch." A twin said popping up by my right side as I put one of the thin biscuit sticks in my mouth.

"I didn't have time in the morning to make my own lunch." I clarified coldly after getting over the initial shock of him coming at me out of nowhere.

The other brother appeared by my left and took the small snack box from my hand. "Melon flavored?" He looked at his brother with a raised eyebrow.

"What does it taste like?"

"You can try some if you want to." I said, offering him the box.

"I'd rather try the one you're eating."

The twin on my right leaned in so his face was hovering centimeters away from my own; he put a finger under my chin and tilted my face up before biting off the other end of the pocky stick that was in my mouth.

"Weirdo." I stammered, feeling my face flush from the unwanted attention. My heart was pounding so hard in my chest I could hardly hear anything else. Did he have to make such an exhibition like that? How bothersome or rather how troublesome and embarrassing.

"Forgive us for not introducing ourselves earlier. Milord tends to make a spectacle of himself and forgets about these sorts of manners on occasion. I'm Hikaru and this is my brother, Kaoru." He said in an airy voice before removing his index finger from under my chin.

I blinked dumbly at them. They were exactly identical. "How I'm I supposed to tell which one of you is which?" Did I have to ask? Yes, I did because I'm just that smart.

"Well," the other twin started with a grin, "you'll just have to find out on your own or you can play the Which One is Hikaru Game? If you win we'll stop teasing you."

Obviously they weren't going to tell me right off the bat.

"I can't win that game," I grumbled. "In order to tell you two apart I would have to get to know you better and I don't think I would want too. Nor do I have the time and energy to waste on a game like that."

Both of them sweatdropped and chuckled uneasily.

"You sure are a hard girl to please."

"Not at all, I just have standards." I quipped in reply.

"Did you hear what you said, Hikaru? She's so heartless. How can she live with herself?" One of the twins- I'm assuming it was Kaoru because he called the other one Hikaru- sniffled solemnly.

The other embraced his brother, "It's alright, all that matters are our feelings for one another."

"Hikaru…"

"It's alright, Kaoru."

They looked into each other ones eyes dramatically while I stood next to them star-struck at their odd display of brotherly affection. It only took a few moments for the word incest to cross my mind.

I tightened one of my fists into a ball. "That's repulsive!"

"Eh?" Hikaru and Kaoru suddenly turned their heads to gape vacantly at me with their arms still entwined around one another's body.

"Did you hear that, Kaoru? She called us repulsive."

I backed away slowly from them, not wanting to see any more displays of their incestuous behavior. I only took four steps back when I accidentally bumped into the boy with glasses who was reading the prices that were written on the chalkboard on the wall.

"Oh, sorry." I mumbled before bowing my head.

He smiled down at me. "It's alright, just pay attention to where you're going next time."

Something about his calmness and tone of voice seemed a little offsetting to me. My best guess is that he wasn't alright with me bumping into it, but was cleverly hiding it under his refreshing smile.

"I'll try to…"

"I have a question for you," he said as he returned his gaze to the chalkboard. "Your prices here are quite low, so aren't your profits marginal?"

I blinked twice. Why was he so interested about profits?

"Well, yes and no." I tried to give him a concise answer. "The costs of ingredients and baking equipment is often pricey, but we're usually very busy here so we're able to afford keeping our prices low and still gain a profit. This bakery usually does really well, but lately it hasn't been so busy." Eh, that was definitely a watered down explanation.

He pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. "You work here often, right?"

"Yeah," I blushed. How did he know that? Could he possibly have ESP?

"Ranka-san told me that your family runs this bakery so I figured you must work here a lot. I'm Ohtori, Kyoya by the way, I'm sorry we were never formally introduced last week." He bowed shallowly at me and felt obliged to bow back

Anyway, that cleared it up. Ranka-san was the type of person who would tell anyone anything just for his on amusement. For a second there I thought he could read my mind, which would've been a terrifying concept. Only a few of my peers knew I worked here on a regular basis.

Hikaru and Kaoru suddenly hooked arms with me, "We're finished eating, so it's time for the tour."

I wriggled away from them. "I never agreed to that in the first place! If you want one so badly ask Arisa, right Ari-"

"She left," Kyoya cut me off, "while you were making Natto for Mori-sempai."

"WHAT?" I gaped at him with my mouth wide open like a fish bubbling in water. "Please, tell me you're kidding!"

He shook his head, "Before she left she told me that you'd be willing to give us the tour. So?"

I was at a loss for words. What could I say? I began imagining ways to torture and possible kill Arisa for deserting me like this. Sometimes she was understanding and I enjoyed her company, but this was a nuisance! Why would she do this to me? I thought she fancied the Hosts.

The Host Club members soon surrounded me like an audience and waited expectantly. Mori stood tall with an eager Hunny sitting on his shoulders with a plate of cake in one hand and Usa-chan in the other. Tamaki looked like a proud father. Hikaru and Kaoru looked interested. Kyoya on the other hand, had his nose buried in a small black book where he was writing something down in. Oh well, five out of six isn't too bad. At least they weren't a mob, but I still want to do this.

And thus…the tour commenced as I sulked while I lead them into the kitchen.

"This here," I began, "is what we call an oven. You put dough on a tray then put it on one of the shelves in the oven before you set the thermostat to an appropriate baking temperature."

This earned me various "ohhs" and "ahhs" with some scattered applause. How rich were these guys that they've never been told how to use an oven before?

"What's this?" One of twins asked.

"A rolling pin, you roll dough with it to flatten it out…"

"What about this?" Hunny held up a bunt cake shaped pan.

"A cake mold, we pour cake mix into it then put it in the oven so the cake takes the mold of the pan."

"And this?" Tamaki held up a few small bottles.

"Vanilla extract. You can smell them if you want, but I'd warn you against drinking them."

"You sure do have a lot of measuring cups." The other twin said as he pointed to the long line of cups with different measuring increments on them that rested on a shelf against a wall.

"I have to be accurate when mixing ingredients or the finished product won't taste too good."

"Look at all those bags of flower and sugar!" Hunny exclaimed happily.

"They have a lot of eggs too," Tamaki said as he swung the refrigerator door wide open, "and milk and cold cuts."

"…cookie cutters."

"Spatulas!"

"Chocolate chips!"

"Sprinkles!"

"Icing!"

Resist…urge…to…kill…

How could such trivial items fascinate them?

I saw this kind of stuff everyday; none of it was out of the ordinary yet they all sounded like little children eagerly naming objects for their parents.

Arisa probably would've been earnestly chatting away with them at this point, but I wasn't Arisa. She would think they way they were acting was cute, but let me assure you that male teenagers flouncing around in a bakery like they've never seen anything like it isn't cute at all…more like disturbing. I didn't know whether they were overreacting or they were clearly impressed.

Whatever it was, it bugged me all the same

"And here…" I continued bluntly as I directed them to the back of the bakery and opened the back door. "This is a nifty little invention called a back door. This is how people leave places when they're not welcome and are otherwise intruding on someone else's life. You're smart guys, right? I believe you'll know how to utilize it to its full extent." I turned on my heel and began marching away angrily until a hand on my shoulder stopped me. I glared over my shoulder to see Tamaki looking as if he was on the verge of tears.

"You're angry with us, aren't you Princess? Please tell me what to do to rectify our relationship!" He clung onto me like a stubborn brat as I tried to get away from him. "I'm so sorry!"

I tried to shake Tamaki off my arm, but he had a surprisingly fast grip on me. "Knock it off!"

"Well, looks like we better leave." Kyoya said as he began guiding the twins out. I couldn't tell if he was joking or being demure.

"Hey! We still want to stay!"

"We haven't had any fun yet! We want to play some more with Noudo-chan."

I twitched.

Those jerks.

Tamaki sensed my irritation and let go of me before turning on the twins. "Don't call your cousin such a degrading name! It's not her fault she's a commoner."

Since when was I their cousin? And since when was it okay to refer to someone as a _commoner_?

I pointed at the back door with a vein throbbing in my temple. "Leave. NOW."

"Ah! You're upset again!" He gasped. "You can tell your uncle what's wrong!"

I gritted my teeth. This guy was an annoying idiot!

I couldn't hold in my temper any longer so I unleashed the storm that had been brewing inside of me since this morning. "Let's start with the fact that I had to get up early on today because my parents have to pick up my sister at the airport! Then I found out there were twenty-six orders on the answering machine because people don't understand that it puts less stress on the baker if they have a week in advance to know what you want. Then, right when I'm on my lunch break after putting two dozen scones in the oven because some weirdo suddenly thought that it was a brilliant idea to bring some food to his company's picnic tomorrow, you guys barge in to demand that I drop everything I'm doing to cater to your needs! I think I have every right to be in a bad mood."

"Nyo-chan? Are you angry with us?" Hunny asked with wide eyes while he held his stuffed bunny rabbit over his head after tugging on my back of my apron. "I'm sorry if we caused problems for you ne, Takashi?"

Takashi put his hands in his pockets as he nodded his head in response. "We didn't mean to upset you."

I felt my cheeks flush red slightly as I diverted my eyes away from the senior's intense gaze. It was the first time all day I had actually heard him speak so I was caught a little off guard by his deep soothing voice.

I exhaled heavily. "I'm not mad with you two." I said hastily as a feeling of anxiety welled within me that made knots in my stomach as soon as I spied Hunny-sempai's saddened face from the corners of my eyes. "It's them-"

"You're lumping me into the same group as them? How rude." Kyoya stated coldly as his gaze traveled across the room to focus on Tamaki squabbling with the twins.

"She's your cousin and you should treat her as such! How dare you call her that!"

"Since when are we related to her?" The twins retorted in unison as they exchanged confused looks with one another.

"Well, obviously I'm not going to lump you together with those psychopaths," I said as I received an icy stare from Kyoya that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Was he really seventeen? For some reason he seemed so much older…maybe it was because he wasn't acting childish like his friends were.

"Are you stressed, Nyo-chan?" Hunny asked as he put another forkful of cake into his mouth.

I exhaled heavily before slouching down into the seat next to him while frowning.

"I think it would be best to leave now," Kyoya started after observing his friends' behavior for a little while longer then continued when they finally settled down, "Tamaki, pay the tab."

"Yes, mother!" Tamaki agreed. He bounded over towards me like an exhilarated puppy after giving the twins one final scolding.

"Here's your bill," I grumbled while thrusting the long, thin white sheet of paper at him that had a long string of orders printed on it. "You better be able to pay it."

He took his wallet out of his pocket after skimming the bill with sharp eyes and handed me some large bills that more than enough covered the tab. "Keep the change, consider it your tip."

I gawked at him. "Are you mental? I can't-"

He put a finger to my lips, which I fought the urge to bit off, and chuckled lightly. "Sorry for the trouble, my niece."

"It doesn't matter anyway-"

"-this stuff is like chump change to us." The twins stated peacefully as they exited the bakery.

When they finally left for good -for today anyways- I was still in a state of horrific perplexity as I stood with the crisp bills of money in my hand.

Chump change?

What had I gotten myself into?

**XXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _This is Your Life_ by Switchfoot

Dc-chan: Yes, this is very late nor was it funny in any way, shape or form. I'm sorry –bows repeatedly- I had lots of perquisite stuff for AP English and AP Art (my advanced placement classes for next year) to sort out last and this week. I'm stuck for the next month working on my pre-AP Art pieces so I'm going to be a busybody! I would appreciate it if you would find it in your heart to put up with my wayward 11th grader ways.

TIME TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT!

Thanks for the reviews! I hope I didn't disappoint anyone with this chapter! I hope the length makes up for the delay…

Anyone have pairing guesses?

Please take note: **noudo** is Japanese for **serf**, so the twins are making fun of her by referring to her as **Noudo-chan**as opposed to Nyo-chan, which Hunny calls her.

Feed the starving artist and review! T-T

Peace out.


	6. Whiskey Lullaby

Dc-chan: TToTT I'm soooo sorry! First I got sick, then I had some writer's block, then when I had finally finished this chapter my internet went down for two days so I wasn't able to post this chapter. Forgive me?

Hey everyone! Last weekend I went to Fanime Con (first anime convention ever for me!) with my school's Anime Club. It was so much fun! We saw Spartans, made a Storm Trooper do the pelvic thrust (I even got a hug from him later), saw awesome live bands, and screwed around a lot. I'm so going back next year. OwO But enough of my nonsense…

This chapter is extremely short. fOO;

It was either going to be short or insanely long. I choose short. Sorry.

XXXXXX

Episode 6 of Luckiest Loser

Whiskey Lullaby

I sat with my legs tucked under me by the short-legged table in Haruhi's living room as I chewed on the eraser of my pencil while etched deep in thought. The math problem lay before me in my algebra textbook like some dead language that was beyond my ability to decipher.

I hated math.

Cylinders, prisms, Law of Sines, inequalities, logarithmic functions…whose brilliant idea was it to make math so hard?

I felt Haruhi's expectant brown eyes on me as she sat across the table from me. I could tell she was annoyed from my apparent lack of mathematical ability and the fact that the tutoring sessions took place at her apartment. She asked why she couldn't tutor me at my house or over the phone.

My answers were simple and concise:

Firstly, I warned her that my mother didn't approve of Ranka-san's lifestyle and would be very rude to her about it. Haruhi understood that and said that it seemed too troublesome

And secondly, my wonderful older sister, Osen, had the house phone permanently glued to her ear. A week ago, I was going to use the phone to call a friend from school and she freaked on me saying that the line needed to remain open because she was expecting calls.

Which led me to where I was today, sitting in Haruhi's apartment and suffering through horribly confusing math problems.

This was our third tutoring session together in the course of two weeks since I had first recruited her help. Progress was minimal so far and the only thing that seemed to improve was Haruhi's patience for my lack of brains and understanding of mathematical concepts.

It was kind of depressing to think about how I was asking a student a year younger than me to help me with school, but most of my classes were first year high school courses because I had failed them the previous year. The only classes I had managed to pass as a first year were Japanese History, PE, and Home Economics. Everything else (English, Algebra I, Chemistry, and Modern Literature) I was retaking this year. You'd think taking some classes a second time would make them easier, but it doesn't especially when you didn't understand anything the first time around.

Haruhi was helpful as a tutor, probably better than anyone else I could've asked, but she didn't understand what it was like to just not get things. She soaked up information like a sponge as opposed to myself who was more like a rock. And it doesn't take an idiot to know that rocks don't absorb anything, everything just barely scratches the surface.

I mentally chuckled at my own ridiculous analogy, but moments later I remembered that I was in the middle of thinking through a math problem and returned to chewing on my pencil's eraser tip.

Haruhi raised an inquisitive eyebrow at me while the rest of her face remained dead pan. "Are you even trying?"

"I'm thinking…" I began rocking back and forth slowly.

"Do you need help getting started?"

"Nah…" I don't know why I was being so resilient today. Maybe my brain broke or perhaps it was malfunctioning? It seemed like now I was thinking about everything else except the math problem in front of me. Thoughts are terrible distractions sometimes.

After a few more seconds of uncomfortable silence there was a knock on the door.

Haruhi slightly narrowed her eyes at me as she stood up from the table. "I'll go get that." She began walking towards the door then glanced over her shoulder with a stress mark on her temple. "You keep working."

I directed my eyes back to my textbook while grimacing as I flipped the pages back to some example problems. As usual the examples were useless. I slammed the book shut. Stupid, useless thing…

My ears perked up at the sound of Haruhi's voice and another coming from the doorway.

"What did he do this time?"

"He got drunk again. He's so wasted he can't even walk straight."

I heard Haruhi sigh loudly and slap her forehead.

Normally I would be hunched over giggling at the prospect of Ranka-san drunk, but for reason I didn't find it funny or in the least bit amusing anymore. Ranka-san may get drunk a few times a month, but he was still a good father who was there for his daughter. My parents had never lifted a glass of wine or beer to their lips in the entirety of my life yet they were never supportive or proud of me.

I felt the green monster of envy bubbling up inside me, but I quickly scolded myself. I've got to much stuff to worry about to spend time moaning over what I didn't have.

I reopened the algebra textbook as I reassured myself that my future was less bleak than I was anticipating. I only needed to put up with my parents for another year or so then I could go do whatever I wanted. I could get a chef apprenticeship at some classy restaurant in Tokyo and work my way up to manager then finally break away to open my own restaurant.

The loud sound of the front door shutting snapped me out of my reverie and I found myself sullenly watching as Haruhi helped her father across the hall to his bedroom.

"You really need to stop doing this…" She berated him.

He looked up at her from underneath the long strands of hair that were splayed over his face, but remained silent. His makeup was a mess and the dress he was wearing was hanging loosely from his body as he nodded at every word his daughter said.

Haruhi glanced across the room at me. "Nodoka, you might want to go home now. I have to take care of my dad."

Ranka-san then hugged her around her neck. "Haruhi, you're so cute!" His words were slurred, but that only served to make my smile broaden.

I shoved my things hastily into my back bag before slinging it over my shoulder. "I'll call you tomorrow, then?"

"Sure." She answered absentmindedly as I stepped out the apartment and into the evening air before closing the door behind me.

I stood outside on the landing for a few moments with my hands on the railing. A cool breeze rushed through my hair, sweeping it to one side as I lingered idly. I wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere.

The sky had turned a hue of vibrant violet and dark blue with scattered fluffy clouds when I began heading home. I rubbed the back of my neck as the bottom of my shoes scuffed against the sidewalk.

It wasn't that late yet, but I knew my mother was going to screech at me the very instant I stepped through the front door to our house. I'm sure she'd make my ears bleed for this.

Oh well. That banshee scream paled in comparison to how I was feeling.

It was strange to think that I, of all people, wanted a memory like the one Haruhi and her father just shared. I don't know why I was craving it, I just was. Maybe, in my screwed up head, that was a family image of normalcy for me.

I shrugged as I crossed a street, but I couldn't stop grinning widely at the bizarre thought.

I wondered how my own father would feel if I asked him to come home drunk from work for me once…

XXXXXX

Musical Inspiration- _Season Song_ by Blue States (ending song to the movie _28 Days Later_, awesome movie)

Dc-chan: Yeah, yeah. I know I suck. You can blame pre-AP Art crap for cramping my style. Serious romantic hints in the next chapter, I promise!

Now review! It'll make me feel better…

Peace out.


	7. Damage Control

Dc-chan: SCHOOL'S OUT! About freaking time too…it's hot and gross outside so expect me to stay inside and write more. However, I tend to get lazier in the summer. OxO

**XXXXXX**

Episode 7 of Luckiest Loser

_"What are we going to do with her? Did you see her progress report? She's failing all her classes again."_

_"I don't know what her problem is. Why can't she be more like her sister? Osen never gave us this kind of trouble. She was always at the top of her class unlike her…"_

I heaved a sigh as I leaned with my back against the chain-link fence that surrounded Tetsushi's elementary school. I glanced at my wristwatch with my brows knitted together above my eyes. Waiting for him to get out of school was such a pain, usually I would pick him up on my way back home from high school, but I didn't go today. I just didn't feel like it. So now I was left waiting on the outskirts of his elementary school for five more minutes.

I looked up at the light blue sky while crinkling my nose. A gentle breeze blew small fluffy white clouds along in the afternoon sky, which would occasionally pass in front of the sun and cast a shadow down over me. I remembered when I was young other kids would gaze up at the clouds with their eyes sparkling with interest and see all these different animals and shapes, but I never saw anything when I joined in. Clouds looked like clouds to me. I was teased mercilessly for my lack of imagination back then.

I snapped out of my personal thoughts when I felt someone tugging on my arm. I turned my head to see my little brother glaring at me.

"You've been standing there for fifteen minutes spacing out." He reprimanded as he adjusted his bookbag strap on his shoulder.

I straightened up despite feeling a bit sheepish. "Sorry."

"What were you thinking about?" Tetsushi asked with a low voice.

"Nothing important." I replied as I rubbed the back of my neck. "Since when did you get so nosy?"

"I heard mom and dad talking again last night about you…" He said locking eyes with me. "I just thought, you know, you'd be upset about it because you probably heard them too, right?"

I arched an eyebrow, how could I not hear them discussing it? I was right in the next room finishing up my dinner.

"It's none of your business, alright?" I nearly yelled at him as I started walking home, I really didn't want to talk about that subject with him. What was the point of having a conversation about it when he was too young to understand most of what was going on in our family? He couldn't possibly have any insight on the burden of being the middle child in a family with parents who expected so much from their offspring. He would never know what it was like to not be second best, but the worst in your class. What made everything worse was that now I was trying to get better grades in school, but all my efforts-the tutoring sessions with Haruhi and all the extra study hours-weren't paying off. I was still failing all my necessary courses to graduate high school.

"You don't have to be mean about it!" He said indignantly as he followed quickly behind me. "I was just wondering how you felt. You aren't wearing your school uniform so I bet you didn't go to school to-"

I spun around on him with my arms folded across my chest angrily. "Just drop it." I growled.

Tetsushi froze in place and stared at me for a moment. He looked like he was about to cry.

For a split second I was hoping he would start crying so I could yell at him some more, but instead he was the one who started screaming at me.

"You take everything out on me! It's not fair!"

"No I don't-"

"Don't say that! You do! Whenever you get into an argument with our parents you always end up ignoring me or scolding me for something!"

I chewed my bottom lip. Crap. I knew he was right, but I was too busy being stubborn to admit it.

He clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes at me. "You always do this! It's not fair! You always act like you don't care what mom and dad say about your schoolwork, but you do. Then you get mad at me for nothing and make me feel bad! I hate you!" He then began running away in the opposite direction with his shoes pounding against the paved sidewalk.

…WHAT?

I was too stunned by his last three words to chase after him. My legs felt heavy and I swore that some invisible force had nailed my feet to the ground.

He…hated me…?

Was I really such an awful older sister? I never meant to transfer my rage onto him, it just sort of happened. I was at a complete loss of what do to. It was obvious that I should be running as fast as I could to follow him, but I just couldn't. I never meant to be so terrible to him.

"Did you hear that?" A woman behind me said. "What an irresponsible older sister…letting her brother run off like that."

"It's such a shame. Siblings these days."

I could hear the toxicity dripping in their words. I found the feeling in my legs returning suddenly as my anger flared.

"She should really-"

I glowered over my shoulder at the two elderly woman with demonic eyes and a vein in my temple throbbing, "How about I buy you two a glass of shut the hell up?"

Their jaws dropped as they gave me identical expressions of pure horror.

After giving them a satisfied and manic smirk, I sprinted down the street after my little brother.

I had probably run two straight miles without any sight of him. On street corners I would stop and cup my hands around my mouth then yell out his name at the top of my lungs, which earned me some strange looks from surrounding people. I frantically looked down every alleyway and in every shop I could at lightning speed. I silently prayed that he hadn't gotten on a bus anywhere.

As I turned a blind corner I ran start smack into someone and the collision caused me to fall back on my rear end.

"Oww…" I moaned as I slowly sat up with my legs folded under me.

"Are you alright?" I heard a deep voice ask.

I nodded meekly, feeling like an idiot once again today. Way to embarrass yourself Nodoka, I grimaced bitterly.

"I'm fine. Sorry about that…" I looked up to continue my apology to the person whom I collided with, but my face paled instantly except for the bright pink blush on my cheeks when I saw who it was. I forced a crooked smile. "Hi, Mori. Fancy seeing you here, ne?" I sweatdropped; now I not only felt like an idiot, but I sounded like one too. No wonder I fell backwards after bumping into him, he was like a brick wall compared to my small frame.

He leaned forward and offered me his hand.

I slowly reached up and took it to suddenly find myself being pulled strongly up to my feet. My butt felt sore, but I resisted the urge to rub it in public. I thought he would've let go of my hand by now, but instead I felt him turn it over so my palm was facing upwards.

He examined it with his eyes, "You're bleeding."

It was then that I just noticed too that my palm was a bit scuffed up with torn up bits of skin and blood. However, it didn't look like anything too serious, but it was starting to tingle a little.

I pulled my small hand out of Mori's considerably larger one and tried to brush it off. "It's nothing, but a few small scratches. It'll heal in a few days."

"You should put antiseptic on-" he started.

"Ne? Takashi found Nyo-chan!" I heard the high-pitch voice of Hunny cut Mori off as he dashed over while dragging Haruhi with him. "We were just about to go to your bakery to see if you were there because I really wanted some more of your cakes, but if you're here does that mean the bakery isn't open?" He put his index finger to his lips. "Are you working today?"

"Yeah, but I had to pick up my little brother from school first." And right now I need to find him before something happens to him. My hand began stinging and I flinched in discomfort.

"You look flustered." Haruhi pointed out acutely. Damn her keen sense of observation. "Where's your brother? His school probably got out by now."

I redirected my eyes so I was staring off in another direction. I felt their eyes fixed on me curiously. I really didn't want to admit my failure as an older sibling to them or reveal that Tetsushi had told me that he hated me. I didn't need anyone else thinking I was a harrowing older sister, I already felt like the worse person in the world.

"We kind of got into a…"

"Altercation?" Haruhi supplied for me.

I gave her a blank stare.

"A fight."

"Yeah, we got into a fight about thirty minutes ago and I've been searching for him everywhere ever since. He just ran off and I just watched him go. For all I know, he could be on an airplane to Kyoto by now!"

"We'll help you look for him!" Hunny said enthusiastically as he brandished Usa-chan on top of his head.

I blinked twice at him in surprise. "What?" Usa-chan had distracted me from what he had said even though I know I had heard him perfectly well.

"We'll help you find him. He's probably getting scared all alone by himself, this city is pretty big."

"You want to help?" I sounded dumbfounded.

He nodded eagerly in response. "Do you want to hold Usa-chan until we find him? Usa-chan can keep you company."

"No thank you," I replied politely. I then swiveled my head around curiously. "Where are Tamaki, that glasses guy and the twins?"

"They're buys looking in shops, but it's okay. They'd be more trouble than help in this situation." Haruhi answered plainly. She was so blunt and honest, good thing she said everything without any malice in her tone.

"We should split up, we'll be able to cover more ground that way." Hunny said.

I shrugged, it seemed like a good idea to me. "Hmm…I guess, it'll save a lot of time that way. Both Haruhi and I know this neighborhood pretty well, but I suppose you and Mori don't." I stroked my chin with my thumb as I mulled over the idea in my head. There really wasn't much to think about though; I had to find Tetsushi no matter what.

"It's settled then!" Hunny exclaimed happily as he grabbed Haruhi's hand. "I'll go look with Haruhi and you can go with Takashi, ne?"

"Eh? Wait! How will know if you found him?" I asked in confusion.

"Takashi and I have cellphones, so Haruhi and I will call him if we find your brother, ne?"

"That makes sense." I mumbled quietly. I should've figured rich kids like them would own cellphones. Back in my house we were still using a phone with a cord attached to it.

I watched as Hunny and Haruhi ventured off down the street talking about places they should search first. I instantaneously found myself wishing that I hadn't been paired with Mori. It wasn't that I preferred Hunny to him, I wasn't in the position to be picky about these sorts of manners, but I just felt extremely awkward around him. Maybe it was because I felt like a dwarf compared to him or maybe it was because my stomach was knotting as I stood next to him. I felt a little sick as heat rushed to my face.

Walking around with Mori was painfully silent. I'm usually a social hermit myself, but the silence between us was like a thick wall of tension. I suppose he was annoyed with me for rebuffing his comment about my hand, which was stating to sting less by now. I frequently caught myself sideways glancing at him in hopes he would say something, but so far no luck.

Focus, I told myself, you have to find Tetsushi. Stop worrying about he thinks of you. This isn't the time for that! My palms were sweating as I tried to make myself concentrate on my mission of locating my brother before anything happened to him. I soon was immersed in even more guilt than before as another half an hour past with no sign of him.

The parks and schoolyards were still filled with young children, but none of them were my brother.

Now, I was the one who felt like crying.

As we emerged from a heavily vegetated park that had huge trees with branches arching over the stone pathway I sat down on a wooden bench and put my head in my hands in near defeat.

This was all my fault.

I could feel the wet hot tears forming in the corners of my eyes. I didn't want to cry, especially not in public or in front of some guy I barely knew. It was just I felt so miserable for not stopping myself all those times I took my anger out on Tetsushi. Remembering back to all those times made me realize that he was just worried, but I was too engrossed in calling him a little brat to note his concern for me.

My whole body trembled as I tried not to ball like a two-year-old. I wanted to scream, to throw something, do anything that would vent how I felt right now, but that wouldn't help me find Tetsushi, would it? I loathed being this vulnerable. It was strange that only an hour ago I was feeling completely indifferent to the world and here I was now about to cry like a little kid.

Mori put his hand lightly on the top of my head, "We'll find him."

A warm ripple of heat rushed through me as I hunched my shoulders over. "I hope so, I can't imagine what I'd do if something were to happen to him."

I half closed my eyes and inhaled sharply before heaving a sigh. A few harrowing thoughts abruptly crossed my mind that made my jay drop.

I jumped to my feet with my hands tightened into fists. "What if he gets abducted?"

"… …"

"What if someone finds him and decides to sell his organs on the Black Market? I don't want a little brother with missing body parts!"

"… …"

"What do I do then?"

Mori gave me a more-or-less mortified expression that clearly meant something along the lines of "you really think that's going to happen?".

I waved my arms around helplessly. "It could, couldn't it? He's so cute and healthy! It's like he's wearing a neon sign on his back that says kidnap me, I'm an oblivious ten-year-old!"

"… …"

He arched an eyebrow at me. "What? I can't help being a pessimist right now."

I felt like crap again. How did I turn into a doting sister all of a sudden? Maybe Osen was finally rubbing off on me? Nah. It's probably only natural for an older sibling to have a full-on panic attack in this sort of situation.

Mori continued to stare down at me with a stoic face.

I pouted. He could at least say something comforting. Argh! Say something! Anything!

"My cellphone…"

"Eh?"

I did a double take as I watched Mori put his hand in his denim jean pocket and pulled out his vibrating cellphone. He flipped it open and held it to his ear. "Aa, Mitsukuni."

I instantly found myself diving for his cellphone and shouting into it louder than necessary. "DID YOU FIND MY BROTHER?"

"Huh? Nyo-chan, is that you?" It was Hunny's voice.

"Yes…" I laughed nervously, feeling more than a little embarrassed after snatching Mori's cellphone like that. "So, did you happen to find him?" I held my breath while waiting for his answer.

"Yep! Haru-chan saw him sitting on a swing at the park near your bakery."

My heartbeat slowed down as a wave of relief washed over me. "Is he okay? He's not hurt, right?"

"No, he's not injured. He's just upset. You should came here and make up with him, ne Nyo-chan?"

"I'll be there in five minutes." I closed the phone and looked shyly over my shoulder at Mori. "Uh…here!" I said whirling around quickly and holding out the cellphone for him to take while a bright red blush spread across my cheeks. "Sorry about that."

He reached his hand out and took it from me before sliding it back into his pocket. He then gave me somewhat of an expectant look.

I twiddled my thumbs idly. "They found my brother at a nearby park. I guess we should get going." I then rubbed the back of my neck. I don't think I've ever felt so relieved and exhausted in my life.

When I saw my scowling brother sitting inbetween Haruhi and Hunny on a concrete bench by the seesaws I couldn't contain my happiness that he was okay. I rushed up and gave him a bone-cracking hug. I'm sure I would've suffocated him by accident if Haruhi hadn't politely reminded me that he needed to breathe. I gradually let go of him as he gasped for air.

"Are you trying to kill me?" He asked in a miffed tone.

I put my hands on my hips as my excitement that he hadn't been abducted and been spliced open for organs turned into hostility. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been about you?"

Tetsushi avoided my gaze.

"Don't you ever do something that stupid ever again, you hear me?"

"Well, I wouldn't have done it if you weren't so stubborn and mean all the time!"

"You shouldn't have done it in the first place!"

"Then you shouldn't have been so mean to me!"

I slapped my forehead before running my hand down my face; the little bugger had a point and he knew it.

The observers (Mori, Haruhi, and Hunny) were dead silent.

"Look," I started slowly, "I know I do things that aren't exactly nice or considerate of me…"

He snorted, but I paid it no mind and continued.

"I'm really just stressed out right now and I suppose when I'm worked up I take it out on you and you don't deserve it at all. I'm going to make excuses or deny it and I realize you just want to be helpful, but…"

"You're stubborn." He interjected.

"Well, yeah. I'm just not used to sharing my problems and also, no offense, you're ten-years-old."

Tetsushi rolled his eyes. "So? I get a lot more than you think I do."

I chuckled uneasily. "You probably do, you're pretty smart for a kid your age. Still, I just want to know that I didn't mean it…any of it. I shouldn't have snapped at you today and when you ran off I was really worried about you. I know I seem indifferent and I don't hover over you like Osen, but I still care about you. I'm just not they type of sister who makes a fuss over you and stuff." I hung my head; I hated talking about my feelings particularly with an audience nearby. "I'm sorry."

He glowered at me with his nose in the air like he was an adult and I was some hapless child. He furrowed his brows; "Do you mean it?"

I wanted to pull my own hair out at that question. "Of course I mean it!" I didn't mean to bark that last part aloud, but what was done was done. I had made a fool out of myself yet again.

"I'll only forgive you if you do my homework for a week."

"What? No way!" I retaliated as I resisted the urge to box his ears.

"Then I don't forgive you." He said slyly.

"You little snot! I know you forgive me or else you wouldn't be playing these mind games with me!"

"Someone sure is full of themselves. Do I need to repeat my terms?"

I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt then held him in one-armed headlock as I gave him a rough, but affectionate knuckle noogie. "Don't pull this crap with me, buster!"

"Okay, okay!" He wailed as he struggled to break away from my hold on him. "I forgive you!"

"Good." I released him and watched in amusement as he tried in vain to flatten his now ultra messy hair. I snickered ruefully at him.

"A successful reunion!" Hunny cheered as he threw Usa-chan up in the air then caught it.

"Albeit, it was a little strange…hm? It's getting late though," Haruhi said as she looked up at the sky. "We should be getting back. I don't want to know what Tamaki-sempai thinks happened to us." She sighed wistfully.

"Yeah, let's go." I stretched my arms over my head and yawned. From the corners of my eyes I glanced at Mori who was now occupied with carrying Hunny on his shoulders. It was oddly cute. I guess I was still staring at him because it took my a while to notice that Mori was staring right back at me. I hastily diverted my gaze elsewhere and bit my bottom lip as was becoming customary now whenever I felt fidgety, anxious, upset, or confused.

We departed from the park after a few more rounds of Tetsushi and I hassling one another for the fun of it. Though I still felt extremely awkward, even more so considering the fact that I happened to be walking right beside Mori. Hunny was now on the ground and running ahead of us energetically. I had a hard time believing that he was actually older than myself with the way he acted, but it was all the more cute and I found myself minding it less and less.

As we came up to an intersection I noticed that Tetsushi was lagging behind us. "C'mon, Sushi." I grinned mischievously as we began crossing a street.

"Hurry up, Sushi-chan!" Hunny called, taking a liking to my brother's nickname.

"Don't call me that!" He objected in annoyance as he stayed a few feet behind Mori, Hunny, Haruhi and I.

"I'll call you whatever I feel like," I grumbled as he caught up to me and was walking by my side with big strides to keep up in pace. I put my hand on his head and ruffled his hair, which I knew he didn't like, but I decided to do it anyway. He gave me a somewhat dirty look, but didn't say anything. I guess he was relieved that I wasn't boxing his ears instead, which was the usual treatment for when he did something outrageously stupid.

"Wait a minute!" Tetsushi cried as he turned around to dash back across the road. "I forgot my bookbag in the park!"

"Tetsushi?" My eyes darted over my shoulder as I watched his retreating back. It was then that I heard the sound of a car speeding down the street that my brother was currently running across, heading right in his direction. "TETSUSHI!"

The car's brakes began screeching, but I knew it wouldn't stop in time.

The last thing I saw was the car spinning out and fresh blood splattering on the asphalt street.

**XXXXXX**

Music Inspiration- _Come My Way_ by Amuro Namie

Dc-chan: Well, there you go. Didn't I tell you there were going to be huge hints in this chapter? OwO If you want to know what happens you'll have to read the next chapter and-gets hit by a truck-

Peace out.

(XoX)


	8. Trials and Tribulations

LOLZ I UPDATED:B

Dc-chan: Geez, I got inspiration to write at the weirdest times. It's currently 3:45AM here in California and what am I doing? I'm writing. This causes me to have mixed feelings; I like to write, but I also like sleeping. Aw, hell…it's summer! I can sleep whenever I want to dammit! XD

XXXXXX

Episode 8 of Luckiest Loser

Trials and Tribulations

I remember once when I was young, probably around five or six-years-old, I wandered away from my parents in the park into a thicket of trees. I can never recall the specific reason why I did so though, but it was probably something silly. Well, it started getting late and it was then that I had noticed that I had no idea where I was and I was surrounded by tall looming trees that looked even scarier as the sun slowly set, almost like monsters. I had begun getting fearful that I was lost and I would never see my parents again for I couldn't find my way back. I huddled up against a tree eventually and started crying my eyes out until a police officer with a flashlight found me and guided me through the woods back to my parents. Until this day I regarded those few hours lost in the park the scariest moment of my life. However, sitting in a hospital makes you have a whole new perspective on what in life is scarier: being all alone in the park or the fear that your little brother may be unconscious on his deathbed.

I started to cry. Was this all my fault? If we had never gotten into an argument this wouldn't have happened therefore I felt like I was the one to blame for this.

As I sat outside Tetsushi's hospital room with Haruhi, Hunny, and Mori, I couldn't help but bury my face in my hands as warm salty tears streamed down my cheeks. I wanted him to make it through this so badly it hurt. Even screaming at the drunk driver after he had spun out in his car hadn't helped or even when the police came to arrest him I didn't feel satisfied. I wanted that man to die for what he did, but I knew all he'd get for his irresponsibility was a few years in jail when he deserved so much worse.

I felt Hunny put his hand on my back and he offered me Usa-chan and this time I gladly accepted the stuffed animal into my arms. I hugged it tightly against my chest, squeezing it for dear life and silently praying that everything was going to be fine.

I didn't know how long I was sobbing into the stuffed rabbit before the doctor came out. Maybe one or two hours? It felt like forever.

I held my breath. Please, let him have good news.

My eyes were fixed intently on him. Hunny grabbed my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze and Haruhi put her hand on my shoulder. Even Mori, who had begun to slouch in his chair, sat upright and leaned forward probably as anxious as I was to hear what the doctor had to say.

The doctor held a chart in his hand and began reading off of it like it was a monologue script. "Sugiyama, Tetsushi. Broken arm, fractured collarbone, three fractured ribs, and a torn spleen." He paused and looked at me before smiling gently. "I know it sounds like a tall order, but after the examination we just conducted I can assure you that he will be perfectly fine."

I exhaled a huge gulp of air and sank back into the chair that I was sitting in. What a relief! I couldn't imagine what I would've done if the doctor told me that he wouldn't make it. It was like a huge weight was lifted off my chest and I could breathe again.

"That's great news!" Hunny said enthusiastically. "Ne, Takashi?"

Mori nodded with a small smile in my direction. I blushed and looked away quickly.

"However," the doctor began again while he tucked his clipboard under his arm, "his torn spleen will require extensive hospitalization. I would like to discuss the details further with your parents, are they here?"

My elevated mood sunk faster than a ship in a maelstrom. "A nurse called them about thirty minutes ago, they're on their way." I answered meekly as I dropped my gaze to the tiled floor.

"Well," the doctor checked his wristwatch thoughtfully, "when they arrive tell them to meet me in your brother's room. I want to reexamine some of his x-rays, but don't worry. I promise you he'll be right as rain in a few months." He then disappeared back into Tetsushi's room, leaving me to wonder my impending doom.

"What's wrong?" Haruhi asked with raised eyebrows. "You look…scared."

I slowly turned my head towards her as beads of sweat rolled down the back of my neck. "You have no idea."

"Hm?" Hunny tilted his head to one side. "Will your parents be angry with you?"

I handed him back Usa-chan while biting my bottom lip. "Angry? That's the understatement of the century."

"But you didn't do anything wrong." Haruhi said while frowning.

"That's not what they'll think…" I trailed off as I heard the ever so familiar sound of high heels clicking furiously against the floor along with the sound of someone uttering quite loudly a long string of curse words.

Here they come.

Down the hallway I could see my parents approaching. My mother's hair was a mess and was sticking out in all directions so she resembled a Gorgon from Greek mythology. Her lips were pursed together most egregiously. My father had his fists clenched as his sides as mouth blasted swear word after swear word. They sure were an unholy sight to behold especially when I knew their rage was going to be pinned onto me.

I stood up shakily, my legs felt weak beneath me and I couldn't think of anything to say to calm them down.

They stopped right in front of me and were momentarily silent until my mother started her infamous harpy screeching causing nurses, patients and their family members in the hospital to look up from what they were doing.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? FIRST WE GET A CALL FROM YOUR SCHOOL SAYING YOU WERE ABSENT ALL DAY AND THEN WE GET A CALL FROM THIS HOSPITAL SAYING THAT TETSUSHI WAS HIT BY A CAR! If you were responsible, like Osen, this wouldn't have happened. It's your negligence that landed Tetsushi in the position he's in. This is your fault."

I struggled to say something, but my father held up his hand to indicate that neither he nor my mother wanted to hear what I had to say on the matter. I sighed heavily. Parents were so unfair. They weren't even going to hear me out.

"We're both very disappointed in you, Nodoka." He said sternly, I was thankful he wasn't the screaming type like my mother was when he talked to me.

"Sometimes I can't believe how thoughtless you can be." My mother put her hands on her hips and shook her head at me. "If you were more like your sister then this-"

"-but I'm not like Osen!" I interrupted franticly. "Can't you understand that? I'm not like her at all! I'm just me and you two are the only ones who seem to have a problem with-"

"I don't want to hear it!" My mother scolder me harshly as she raised her right hand in the air.

I immediately shut my eyes, waiting for the upcoming slap to strike me across my check, but it never came. Confused, I opened my eyes to see what had prevented her from doing so.

I took a sudden sharp intake of breath when I saw that Mori had stood up from his chair and had caught my mothers's wrist in midair about a foot away from my face. His face was stoic like usual, but I could see a twinge of annoyance in his dark eyes.

My mother looked completely indignant and thunderstruck at the same time. She probably didn't know what to make of Mori's actions. She seemed mortified though.

"It wasn't Nodoka's fault so you shouldn't blame her." He said in a low voice as he languidly released her wrist from his grasp.

Now, my father wasn't an easy man to intimidate, but the good six or seven inches Mori had over him was enough to make him a little pale in the face. It was like David versus Goliath.

My mother glanced nervously at Mori before talking to me again, this time in a much more placid tone. "Did the doctor say anything?"

"He said," I mumbled while pointing at the door, "that he wants to speak with you two."

My father put his hands on my mother's shoulders and steered her into the room without saying another word to me.

I put my hands behind me head and forced myself to chuckle. "Well, those were my parents." I looked around at Hunny, Mori and Haruhi and none of them appeared to be as amused as I pretended to be so I dropped the act and plopped back down on the chair. I was pathetic sometimes.

Just then a sickening cute tune of music filled the air.

I raised my eyebrow as I saw Hunny take his cellphone, one that was identical to Mori's, out of his pants pocket.

"It's Tama-chan." Hunny exclaimed. "He's probably worried by now so we should go. Will you be alright if we leave you here, Nyo-chan?"

"Yeah…"

"You don't sound too convincing." Haruhi said bluntly while sweatdropping.

"Don't worry about it. I've dealt with them before." I told them confidently.

"Okay." Hunny said, though from his tone I knew he wasn't entirely persuaded. I'll admit it; I'm a terrible actress.

I watched them leave with a fake smile on my face. At least they wouldn't be there for the worst of it; my miserable guilt trip. I wanted to be left alone for that part anyways.

* * *

The next two weeks passed by tranquilly. I guess it was because I was looking for other things to keep my mind on other than my brother who I visited everyday. Sometimes I would wait outside though if my parents or Osen was seeing him. On those occasions I would wait until they left before entering his room. 

I surprised myself by attending school regularly when I normally avoided it like the plague. I'm sure I was just doing it so I wouldn't be constantly worrying about my brother. I stayed away from the bakery though because I didn't want to be around my parents more than I had to be. I felt a little silly for missing the feeling of flour all over my hands and nibbling at raw cookie dough made from scratch. Baking had in the past been the way I dealt with things because it was therapeutic for me, but now that I didn't have it I had to cope some other way, which I managed shockingly. School was a great distraction especially when my class was preparing for the upcoming school festival and there was lots of work to be done.

Neither of my parents spoke about the Mori incident, but sometimes during dinner my mother would sent a dirty look my way across the table as she shoved a piece of meat into mouth with her chopsticks. I decided to never bring it up as long as I lived.

Near the end of the second week the hospital called with good news. They said that Tetsushi was recovering quickly, but that he would still have to stay in the hospital for a couple more weeks even though that was the case it provided me with some small comfort.

It was on a Saturday afternoon when the two-week peace, that I was getting accustomed to, shattered like glass.

I was laying sprawled on the red cushy couch in the living room with a book propped up on my stomach. I was trying to read it because it was an assigned reading from my English class, but I ended up just zoning out while staring at the page in front of me. It was a truly lost cause.

I was happy that my parents weren't around to badger me about this. They had left early in the morning to prepare a stall for the Tanabata Festival going on in the neighborhood tonight. I hadn't gone to the festival since I was a little girl and I was prepared to make sure that tonight was no exception to that long-withstanding tradition.

I heard a knock on the front door so I closed my book and tossed it carelessly onto the couch as I stood up.

Lazily, I walked to the front door and opened it. My eyes widened when I saw who it was.

"Hey, Nodou-chan!" Hikaru and Kaoru greeted me in unison.

I instantly tried to slam the door in their faces, but one of the twins stuck their foot in the way to prevent me from doing so.

"That isn't very nice, even after we came all this way to cheer you up." He removed his foot and pushed open the door.

"Cheer me up?" I resisted the desire to laugh at that inane scheme. "How could you two do that?"

"Well…" The twins exchanged crafty glances with one another. I didn't like the looks of this already.

"So you heard about what happened then?" I said gravely.

"Kyoya's family runs that hospital so he found out and told us. Then Milord got all teary eyed and he insisted that we form The Committee Dedicated to Making Nodou-chan's Revival of Happiness."

I hated that nickname with a burning passion.

"Milord has sent us here to get you ready for the Tanabata Festival." One of the twins said with a sly grin.

I started to walk away. "I'm not going…"

"Why not?" They chorused together.

I shrugged. "I don't feel like it."

"Haruhi's going."

"She always goes just in case she has to take care of her dad when he gets drunk." I grumbled while running a and through my hair.

One of the twins wrapped an arm around my shoulders playfully. "Don't you want to have fun?"

"Not really." I said curtly. "Agreeing to this is going to be the only way to get rid of you guys, isn't it?"

"Pretty much." He beamed at me.

This left me only two options: suffer through an evening with nagging twins or give into their demands and go to the festival where I can lose them in the crowd. I picked the later, it seemed less stressful.

I swallowed what little pride I had. "Fine, just leave me alone after this."

They then proceeded to drag me upstairs and upon locating the bathroom across from my bedroom. They sat me down on a stepping stool that my brother had used when he was too small to reach the sink and began planning out what they were going to do with me.

I swayed back and forth as I waited.

I twitched at the comments they made about my nose being too small, my eyes being set too close together, not having high enough cheeks bones, and, according to them, my forehead was too big. I guess it was a good thing my forehead was usually covered by my bangs. The only thing about me that seemed to not bother them were my eyebrows. They said my eyebrows were well defined and it added a much-needed decorum to my face and were very eloquent. It stumped me how they could see all this jut by looking at my face for a few seconds. To be honest, I didn't want to know how they knew.

I wanted to get this over with.

"You have split ends." One of them pointed out as he fingered my hair with one hand while he had a comb with the other.

"Yeah, so? It's just hair." I said dryly.

"You don't take very good care of it do you?" The other twin said as he joined his brother in analyzing the tips of my hair.

"I don't really worry about stuff like this…" I replied, wondering why now I was feeling embarrassed over this subject.

Hikaru snapped his fingers. "Kaoru, get me the scissors."

I gave him a dead pan expression as he took the pair of scissors from his brother. "What are you going to do with those?" I fidgeted in my seat. He appeared positively menacing with the scissors in his hand with a ghoulish twinkle in his eyes.

"Trim those split ends." He said as leaned closer to me with a devious smirk. "After all, like you just said, it's just hair, right?"

XXXXXX

Dc-chan: In case you haven't noticed, Nodoka makes a lot of mythology references when describing people. Perhaps…she has an interest in mythology? Particularly Greek. ;D

It's really hard to write in the twins especially because Nodoka can't tell them apart and therefore she can't specify which one is speaking to her. Oh, the limitations of writing in first person perspective finally get to me! D':

Thank you for all the lovely reviews last chapter.

The Tanabata Festival is Japan's star festival so you can pretty much guess what'll happen in the next chapter. Will they succeed in cheering up Nodoka? Or will things just go from bad to worse? I think that chapter might be broken up into two parts…meh.

Peace out and don't forget to review!


	9. Unsolicited Encounter

**LOLHAYTHAR! P:**

I'M SO SORRY! I didn't realize that this story went a few weeks without an update. I was kinda focused on my other fic, sorry! –bows repeatedly-

**XXXXXX**

Episode 9 of Luckiest Loser

A little trim? A LITTLE TRIM? Is that what they called this?

I grimaced sourly while puffing out my cheeks as I stared scathingly at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. My hair, that used to down to the middle of my back, was now fashioned so it ended right beneath my shoulders and my bangs had been swept to the side. Needless to say, I didn't like it. I'm sure it looked classy or whatever, but it definitely wasn't me in any way, shape or form. The twins had put makeup on me too, another reason why I wasn't too thrilled with the outcome. I had on a light shade of lipstick, eyeliner, eye shadow, blush, and some other products that I couldn't even remember the names of for the life of me. We got into a fight though when they tried to take out my nose and eyebrow piercings; they didn't seem to mind the studs in my ears. I'm proud to say that I gave them hell for it and emerged victorious.

Now, here I was alone in the bathroom with a yukata folded neatly in my arms that the twins gave me to change into. I unraveled it to get a good look at it, accidentally letting the obi fall on the floor. It was a nice floral print with shades of colors ranging from indigo to ashen gray, I kind of liked the simplicity of it. I put my arms through the sleeves before being careful to wrap the left side of the yukata over the right side. (Once, when I was younger, I had made the mistake of wearing it the reverse way and nearly shamed my mother to the grave. She spent the next few months of my life yelling at me, much to the pain of my poor ear drums, that only the dead at funerals wrap the right side over the left and if I ever forget that again she would disown me.)

I picked the bright red obi off of the floor and belted it around my waist.

I gave myself one last loathing glance in the mirror before opening the bathroom door, only to see Hikaru and Kaoru standing in the hallway expectantly with their arms draped around one another.

"Ah! Much better!" They chorused in unison, giving me the thumbs up.

"But, you need to tie the obi in a bow. You don't just knot it around your waist." One of them berated me playfully as he put his hands on my shoulders to forcefully turn me around so he could retie the obi.

"And your hair still needs a little fixing…" The other one attacked my hair with a comb again. He clipped back some of my bangs and let some strands of hair frame my face before tying the rest of my hair into a high ponytail.

Once they were done, they backed up to admire their work with identical Cheshire Cat grins.

"Can you believe it, Hikaru? We did so much with so little to work with."

"It truly is a miracle. The wonders of cosmetics never cease to amaze me."

My eyes twitched as I balled my hands into fists, fighting the violent urge to punch both of them in their smug faces. As satisfying as that would be, I had to hold myself back.

They were dying to get under my skin, those bastards. Haruhi _had_ told me that they were self-aware snobs, so should I really expect any sort of empathy from these two? Of course not.

It was then that my ears picked up the sound of voices downstairs. Were there other people in the house too?

"Look! This must be Nyo-chan's sister! She's really pretty!"

I descended down the staircase with the Twins closely following at my heels. My jaw dropped when I saw the Host Club is my living room examining pictures of my family that were on the mantle above the fireplace.

How the hell did they get into my house?

Tamaki was the first to whirl around and notice my angry presence at the bottom of the stairs. "Ah, my niece! You look lovely!" His hands clamped over mine as he studied me with his mystified eyes and a happy smile, that I'm sure would make any normal girl faint from sure delight. Lucky me, I wasn't the fainting type.

I slipped my hands out of his while a vein throbbed in my temple. "I don't like being touched." I grumbled.

Hunny, who was currently perched on top of Mori's shoulders comfortably, looked at me with innocent wide eyes. "Nyo-chan, how come there aren't any pictures of you?"

"I burned them." I replied bluntly, without missing a beat. Of course I hadn't really burned them, but seeing their expressions after saying that was priceless and totally worth it. However, the room did seem to get a bit tense after that. I hope they weren't taking that answer seriously.

There was a short awkward silence that was suddenly shattered by Tamaki's flamboyant behavior.

"Now that my niece is ready," he began in a loud voice, "we can leave and enjoy the festival of the common folks!"

I glared at him. "Good, now get the hell out of my house."

Tamaki gasped, horrorstruck. "Mother! Nodoka is using foul language!"

Kyoya looked up from his black book with a small frown. "I'm only seventeen and already I have three children and a niece. Where has my youth gone?"

It was then I realized that Kyoya was probably the only rational member of this group. At least he wasn't jumping up and down to dress me up or calling me annoying pet names like a few others I could mention.

Still, I really wanted to know how they got into my house.

"Ranka-san had a spare key just in case of emergencies." He replied as he swiftly took the key out of his pocket and showed it to me.

I paled white as a ghost and sweatdropped nervously. He so has ESP. There was no question in my mind about it. Freak.

"Let's go!" Tamaki said while pumping a fist into the air enthusiastically.

Hikaru and Kaoru pinned my arms to my sides and began directing me out the front door to follow Tamaki who was acting extremely eager.

I squirmed out of their grasp. "Wait! Let me get my wallet."

I dashed into the kitchen and found my bookbag sitting on my chair. I unzipped it and rummaged around before finding it buried under two textbooks. With it firmly in one hand I headed back towards them after checking to see how much money I had (not that much by their standards, but enough for me to buy something decent).

"Why do you want to bring that?" The twin on my right side asked with an arched eyebrow. He gave me a puzzled look as if I had gone mental.

"Well," I started thoughtfully, "since my brother's in the hospital he can't come to the festival so I want to buy him a present to cheer him up. Since, you know, he's not going to be here and everything." Tetsushi always went to the Tanabata Festival, he was a kid after all so he enjoyed these kinds of things unlike myself. I felt partially responsible for his current condition though and I thought that maybe a present would help him feel better about missing it this year and ease my own guilt. Maybe it was stupid or maybe I was just feeling at fault again. It was hard to tell what was going through my own head at times.

Tamaki looked like he was on the verge of tears. "That's so cute! You're so thoughtful!" He tried to give me a hug, but I sidestepped out of the way, which caused him to fall flat on his face on the carpeted floor. "GAH! Rug burn!" His forehead was bright red and was probably stinging like mad, such was the pain of rug burns.

I rolled my eyes. "You'll live through it."

The Twins snickered as they walked over his back to the front door. "Didn't you hear, Milord? Noudo-chan just said she didn't like being touched." They seemed to be enjoying tormenting him and ignored the appearance of a stress mark on the back of his head as they continued to snigger noisily

"Don't call me that." I scowled darkly at them, but I appreciated them telling Tamaki that even if the only reason they did it was to tease Tamaki.

"We should get going," Hunny piped up as he slid off of Mori's back. "I want to try lots of sweets. There will be lots of sweets, ne?" He stared at me hopefully while rocking back and forth on the heels of his feet like a little energized bunny.

I bit my bottom lip as I tried to remember back to when I used to go to the festival when I was a child. From what I could recall, there was nothing Hunny needed to fear as sweets were always abundant and I highly doubted that much had changed over the course of a few measly years. "Uh...yeah. There are usually tons of vendors selling stuff."

Hunny didn't seem able to contain his excitement at my response; his eyes sparkled like that was the best news in the world I could've given him.

Tamaki cleared his throat loudly, in an effort to catch everyone's immediate attention. "We should get going if we hope to have enough time to soak of the culture of the common folks." He then swirled around on one foot and faced me before tapping the bridge of my nose with his index finger. "Ready to go?"

I slapped his hand away. "If you do that ever again, I'll-"

"Mori-sempai! Secure the princess!"

I abruptly found my petite frame being effortlessly swept up then slung over Mori's broad shoulder. I was stunned for a moment or two, trying to adjust to the sudden height increase and to the fact that my feet were no longer on the floor, but dangling in midair. Right then and there, I immediately made up my mind that I hated being manhandled like this so I started to wriggle only to find that Mori's arm was wrapped tighter around my torso than I had anticipated, therefore my struggling was a complete utter waste of time.

"Sorry about this." He apologized in a flat tone.

A blush slowly crept across my face. I opened my mouth to gripe and moan about the treatment I was receiving, but he just shook his head as if to say, "If I let you down, you'd just run away." He was damn right too.

The streets were lined with colorful streamers that would rustle whenever a gust of wind blew by. There were paper cranes and kimonos stringed together hanging from bamboo sticks and the lanterns were already lit. Tables were set up on the sidewalks were vendors were selling a wide variety of candy, cakes, small toys and traditional decorations. The sky above was a pleasant mix of orange, purple and red hues with scattered clouds that reflected the last remaining rays of the setting sun. Despite the gradually cooling temperature due to it nearing nightfall as the sun dipped down between two large mountains in the distance it was relatively warm.

Normally, I was never one to take in and observe the nature of my surroundings, but you'd be surprised how one would pass their time when they were being carried around on someone's shoulder like a helpless sack of flour for an hour or two. By this time I had become rather mellow and had been propping myself up by resting my chin on my folded arms, which in turn were resting on Mori's back. Dare I say, it was rather snug once I got used to it.

Hunny was lagging behind Mori so he could talk to me therefore I wasn't completely forgotten by the all Host Club members at this point.

"What are you thinking about getting your brother, Nyo-chan?" Hunny questioned me with his index finger pressed against his bottom lip cutely. I had trouble believing that with such an adorable demeanor he was a year older than me, then again the boy with the glasses had ESP so _anything_ was possible.

"I really don't know. What do ten-year-old boys like these days?" I scratched my chin after realizing that I probably should've decided what to get him before I left the house. Well, when you think about it, I didn't exactly leave the house of my own free will, but I didn't want to waste time pondering such inane technicalities.

"Cake!" Hunny exclaimed with a bright smile, his light brown eye lighting up at the idea. I could just imagine him drooling as a mental image of a cake bore into his brain. He was such a strange guy.

I shook my head languidly as my brows furrowed together in concentration. "I'm getting a present for my brother not for you, but I'll keep in mind to bake you a huge double layered chocolate fudge cake when your birthday comes around." This statement thrilled him and now he was walking with a slight whimsical skip in his step. From my perch on Mori's shoulder I intently scanned the vendors' tables as we passed them. I often had to crane my neck to get a good look at the items and this, unintentionally, made my body twist as I strained myself to get a better view.

Mori stopped and I felt him firmly put his other hand on my lower back to stop me from moving around. "Don't squirm, you might fall." He stated in a baritone.

My face flushed a bright shade of magenta that only Hunny could see, causing the short boy to raise his eyebrows in response. I directed my eyes at the ground, which was further beneath me then I was used to. "You could always set me down." I implied with an optimistic tone. "That way I don't fall and go splat."

Mori turned to face the blond boy with a blank expression.

Hunny tilted his head to the side and blinked. "But Nyo-chan I like being able to talk to you face-to-face."

Despite him saying that last sentence in a charming manner, I felt a homicidal rage engulf me. Just because he's cute doesn't mean he should get away with letting his tall and dark haired friend here carry me around like I was some toy.

I guess Mori took that as a 'no' as he and Hunny started walking again, ignoring any further complaints and protests that I had. My face was still as red as a beat and for a moment I locked eyes with Hunny who simply grinned sweetly at me. I pouted in return.

Hunny's arms swung freely at his sides as he giggled. "I know something that Taka and Nyo-chan don't know." He said in a singsong voice.

I sighed in defeat as I let my arms hand down limply over Mori's back. "And what's that?"

He giggled again. "Nyo-chan will have to figure it out for herself."

"Koi." Mori suggested passively. He paused in front of a stand that had tied plastic bags filled with water and either one or two of the multicolored fish arranged in tidy rows. He gently slid me off of his shoulder and placed my feet back on the ground so I could see them.

I bent over at my waist as and put my hands on my lower thighs as I examined the different kinds of Koi that were displayed. I've never noticed before, but Koi were actually quite pretty. Their scales glittered in the lantern lights as they swam around in their confined areas of space. Some were black with white and red patterns, others were white with red spots, and I even spotted one with light blue scales.

"Does Sushi-chan like fish?" Hunny asked curiously as he joined me by my side in studying the Koi.

"He likes eating them," I said frankly, "but I'm sure he won't eat his pet."

Hunny crinkled his nose in a rabbit-like manner before turning his attention to me. "Which one do you like?"

I drummed my fingers on top of the table. "I don't know, they all look pretty neat…" I trailed off as my eyes drifted upwards and saw a haunting figure from my not too long ago past on the sidewalk behind the Koi seller. I winced inwardly as his dark eyes met mine and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

It was Kei of all people.

He was here at the festival and he was watching me right now. Creep. Stalker.

My body tensed up and my hands trembled. Why was he here? I didn't want to be within a thousand meters of him, much less ten feet away like right now. I wanted to run, but my feet were rooted on the ground.

Kei raised a hand and waved at me while a devious smirk tugged at his lips. He still had that same cocky air about him that I remembered almost too well. A gust of wind blew through his brown hair and I felt the cool air waft through the thin cloth of the yukata I was wearing, bringing me back to my senses so I could refocus my attention back on the fish. However, his stupid mug was engraved in my mind now. This evening suddenly took a turn for the worse.

"Nyo-chan? Are you alright?" Hunny looked at me with concern written across his face. "Your hands are shaking, are you cold?"

"Hm?" I whirled my head around to stare at the small boy. "Am I cold?" My brain didn't seem to be processing the question Hunny had just prompted. Was I cold? Who knows? It could've been below freezing and I probably wouldn't have noticed because I just saw someone who freaked me out so much that I almost considered bolting on the spot. My palms felt sweaty as a nervous nausea created knots in my stomach. "I'm fine," I chimed, hoping that I actually sounded the part too. Like I've said before, I'm a terrible actor and I saw instantly that Hunny and Mori saw through my act, yet they decided not to press the matter.

I tucked a strand behind my ear and I was more than peeved when I discovered that I was too distracted by Kei's sudden reappearance to occupy myself by buying my brother a gift. I was hopeless, it showed too.

Hunny pointed at a red fish with black markings. "How about this one?"

I shrugged before standing up straight and exhaling heavily, the cold weather cause a tiny puff of white air to escape from my lips as I did so. I needed to get away from Hunny and Mori for a few minutes to collect myself and get some breathing room. I lied to them before I even gave a second though to what I was saying. "I need to use the restroom." I turned sharply on my heel only to collide into Mori's stiff chest. He looked down at me with a stoic exposition and I had an inkling that he was about to hoist me onto his shoulder again. "What? I'll be right back." Mori remained unmoved until finally he stepped to the side to let me pass. I edged around him cautiously to make sure he wasn't going to heave me over his collarbone at the last split second. When I was in the clear I hastily picked up my walking pace even though I was fully aware that Mori and Hunny were staring at my retreating back.

I worked my way through the hordes of people. Let me tell you, trying to worm your way through crowded market streets is most likely one of the most tiring things in the world. I'm positive I acquired several bruises from bumping into people and I was beginning to get a headache from all the loud cacophony going on around me. Somehow, I managed to find myself near the outskirts of the festival where the crowd was immensely less dense and isolated.

I breathed a sigh of relief, grateful to have some time to myself so I could recover from my shock of seeing Kei a few minutes ago. I had never dreamed I would see him again, I thought he was long gone. Apparently, that had just been wishful thinking on my part. His prolonged absence from my life had been too good to be true.

"Still like being by yourself, Nodoka?" A familiar voice whispered into my ear. I loathed the feeling of _his_ warm breath against my neck; it made me sick to my stomach.

I cursed under my breath every obscenity I could muster.

Kei grabbed my shoulder and pushed me up against a concrete wall. His face loomed dangerously over me with a sneer tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Happy to see me?"

"No." I hissed as he rested his forearm on the wall above my head.

"No?" He faked sounding hurt. He cupped my cheek roughly and forced me to look up at him. His eyes traced over my facial features and eventually traveled down so he was gazing at the yukata I was wearing. "You look more attractive than usual, did you do something with your hair?" He snaked his other arm around my waist, trying to be smooth with me. But, I knew that his true nature wasn't like this. It was much more…sinister.

I put my palms on his chest and tried to push him away. "Stop it." I found myself detesting the Twins even more for dressing me up especially if it was making Kei compliment me.

My actions didn't seem to deter Kei one bit as he leaned in closer to me until his lips were just mere centimeters away from my own. My heart began beating erratically as I tried to get away from him, but he was much more stronger than I could ever hope to be so he was able to keep me pinned against the wall. His chest was pushed up against my body so there was no room between us and all the while I felt my world was crashing down on me.

Someone help me…

**XXXXXX**

Dc-chan: I don't know if anyone remembers, but Arisa mentioned Kei in the second chapter of this story and Nodoka had an aversion to talking about him (you can see why, ne?). More will be revealed about his and Nodoka's relationship later. Yep, there are unavoidable drama filled plot bunnies up ahead. For convenience's sake, let's pretend that the other Host Club members were too distracted by the surrounding festivities to pay attention to Mori, Hunny and Nodoka in this chapter, mmkay? It can be our little secret. ;'D

Thank you all for the lovely reviews!-they keep me motivated to write more!

Peace out.

P.S. Does anyone have any good Ouran fanfiction recommendations? I wanna read some good stories that will inspire me (or something along those lines).


	10. Loveless

Episode 10 of Luckiest Loser

I flinched uncomfortably as he held me in place. I didn't dare runaway in fear of his notorious temper that had, at one time not too long ago, victimized me. My knees buckled together as my body shook and beads of sweat trickled down the nape of my neck as he kept his unwavering eyes on me.

Please just let this be a horrible nightmare or a horrible hallucination. I silently prayed that would be the case here.

The fleeting touch of his fingers sliding over my cheek to my pursed lips solidified that this was indeed reality and not some hellish delusion. I wanted nothing more then to push his hand away, but I felt too paralyzed to do so. Damn my sudden lack of motor functions!

I was in deep trouble here and serious trouble too.

"Something wrong?" He asked with arched eyebrows and a toothy grin. "Or are you feeling a bit frightened?" Stupid, cocky, conceited bastard. I kept those words to myself though, I had learned to fear the excessiveness of his nastiness when provoked from past experiences.

I opened my mouth to speak out in protest or yell for help, but the words just weren't coming out like I desperately hoped they would. My voice was stuck in my throat and I only managed to sputter helplessly as my mind went blank. His face came closer to mine as he craned his neck down so that the tips of our noses touched. My heart rate increased dramatically and I could hear the frantic beating of my heart thundering in my ears.

His mouth was dangerously near mine now and I had a sickening feeling about what was up his sleeve. Like it would really take a genius to figure this one out, but I hated being right in this instance.

Without warning, as was his style, he forcefully crushed his lips against mine after intertwining his fingers into my hair, loosening my ponytail so my hair fell to my shoulders.

I _really _hated being right.

He was being a disgusting and overzealous pig like usual. The insults I was slinging at him within the sanctuary of my own mind didn't change the fact that he had me cornered against a wall with his tongue itching to get inside of my mouth.

"Eh? Nyo-chan?"

The sound of Hunny's voice caused Kei to tear his lips away from mine, allowing me to finally breath after I had been holding my breathe for what seemed like an eternity. I took in a few deep gulps of air, but it didn't stop my body from trembling or succeed in calming my nerves as I hoped.

Kei's arm was still resting above my head, but he had shoved his other hand into his trouser pocket while scowling at the small blond boy and his dark haired companion who had suddenly, much to my good fortune, turned a corner and had happened to stumble upon us. Whether it be by coincidence or on the account that they had gone looking for me, I was eternally thankful that they had arrived when they did despite how numb I was feeling emotionally as the nerves in my body tingled anxiously. It was literally perfect timing on their account.

"Who the hell are they?" Kei glared at me, his playful and lustful demeanor was gone now and his true personality was bubbling to the surface. I could tell that their unintentional interruption had dented his pride and had tempted his flaring disposition.

"They're…they're friends…" I mumbled sullenly in response while crossing my arms in front of my chest in a defensive manner.

He dropped his arm to his side and gave Hunny and Mori a hard caustic stare. I couldn't tell what was going on inside his mind, but it seemed to me that he was sizing them up as if he detected that they were some sort of threat.

I began feeling uneasy as minutes went by in a tense silence; the only audible noises were coming from the delighted shouts of children at the festival and the murmur of soft oriental music drifting through the air.

Hunny's brown eyes were wide as saucers and locked on me with a look of puzzlement on his face. Mori, even though he was the more impassive of the two, had his dark eyebrows ever so slightly angled downward.

I was torn between embarrassment for being seen in a situation like this with Kei and fear of what could possibly happen next.

Kei gave me one last harsh look before purposefully knocking into my shoulder as he brushed past me. Truth be told, I was reasonably surprised that he didn't start a confrontation right then and there as was usually in his nature to do so.

I hugged myself the instant he disappeared from my line of sight and leaned back against the wall as my cheeks flushed, tainting them light pink, though it was hardly noticeably in the dark night. This was exactly the kind of mess I didn't want to get caught up in. I thought I had put Kei behind me and that he had done the same, but he obviously had no intention of letting me forget the hold he had over me.

"Nyo-chan?" Hunny stepped forward in concern for my wellbeing and cocked his head to the side. "Are you alright?"

No, of course I wasn't fine. How could he ask a question that had such an obvious answer?

I suddenly wished that he had his stuffed rabbit so I could hug it take some comfort from it.

"That boy…how do you know him?" He asked quietly. "Why was he-"

"It's nothing." I cut him off hastily as I kept my eyes cast down on the ground. "He's just someone I know." I felt horribly rotten for pathetically trying to lie to them like this, but else could I do without revealing what had happened between Kei and I? I really didn't want to dump the sordid details of that relationship in anyone's lap.

"Oh." Hunny said after a moment's pause. I could see his lip twitching as if he wanted to say something more, but the sheer awkwardness of this incident probably made us all feel a bit out of place and not knowing what to say.

I shivered as a cold wind went by, fluttering the sleeves of my yukata as strands of hair swept in front of my face.

"I'm going home." I said blandly with a frown. I knew coming to this festival had been a stupid idea. This had been some plan to cheer me up, I thought sarcastically. All I wanted was to be left alone right now and hide under the warm covers of my bed until the end of the world or until Kei died a miserable death for putting me through this.

Hunny appeared worried as he exchanged a quick glance with Mori. Clearly, neither of them were keen on the idea of leaving me alone while Kei could still be out there waiting for a chance to catch me by myself again.

"Do you want us to walk you home?" Hunny offered saccharinely.

I shook my head slowly. "No, I'll be fine." I turned on my heel to leave while I started wiping the makeup off my face with my sleeve; smearing lipstick, foundation and mascara all over the silky fabric. For some reason, I found myself wanting to blame the Twins for this. They were the ones who had dolled me up and therefore attracted Kei's attention. Or maybe I was just looking for someone else to point the finger at other than myself? I guess at some points everyone doesn't want to admit that they can be responsible for their own misfortunes in life. However, rubbing off the makeup made me feel better and like I was finally me again.

"Be careful." Mori warned as he folded his arms across his chest.

I glanced over my shoulder at him, I didn't say anything back, but I gave him a brief nod indicating that I had heard him.

I began walking home with my head hung low and shoulders hunched over as I left the Tanabata Festival further and further in the distance.

What a night, what a night…

I had nearly forgotten how long the walk was between my house and the festival, I suppose I didn't notice it earlier because Mori had been carrying me. I amused myself by counting the cracks in the sidewalk (anything to keep my mind off of what had transpired) until I arrived at the front door of my house. It wasn't that late either, the clock in the living room chimed ten times as I opened the door and stepped inside. My parents were most likely at the festival selling baked goods to the massive crowd.

I kicked off my sandals in the hallway, I was too lazy to bother with lining them up neatly against the wall like my parents preferred, before laying down on my back on the living room couch. The cushions were cozy so I stayed there while sighing heavily every few seconds, relieved to be away from everyone so I could recuperate from tonight's events.

Suddenly, I bolted upright as I remembered that I had completely overlooked buying my brother a gift.

"Crap…" I grunted as I placed my hands on the sides of my head before falling back down against the cushions. I'm a terrible, terrible older sister.

Tonight just wasn't my lucky night.

When next Saturday rolled around was I still feeling miserable.

I didn't even want to get out of bed, but I eventually had to when my dear sweet mother banged on my door and screeched at me like she did routinely every morning nowadays. I grudgingly rolled out of bed. It was the weekend and I wasn't scheduled to work at the bakery so I didn't quite comprehend why I had to get up at the brink of dawn. There was no point in arguing with her about it, she would just call me insolent and further damage my self-esteem with her _loving _criticism.

I let my hair remain in tangles as I descended down the staircase towards the kitchen while sporting my pajamas consisting of an oversized shirt, baggy sleep pants and fuzzy slippers.

My mother's trademark glare zeroed in on me as I entered the kitchen, judging every aspect of my appearance in fuming silence.

Eh, whatever. She was the least of my worries.

I had a tutoring session today with Haruhi anyway around noon so I was mostly dreading that, particularly because I hadn't studied all week for any of my subjects.

I hadn't cooked or baked in ages, in reality I had gone a week-and-a-half without so much as touching an oven, I decided to make my own breakfast then have my mother attempt to poison me, which I had the sneaking suspicion could be on her agenda. Her scrambled eggs always did make my stomach feel funny after a few hours.

Familial murder conspiracies aside, I continued to beat myself up over not getting my brother a present. I felt so guilty that I had stopped visiting him in the hospital, which only added to my foul mood.

I wasted too hungry so I settled on solely making rice.

We had an electric rice cooker so that kind of took out the fun of cooking rice for me, but as long as it wasn't poisoned I was fine with it.

My mother surveyed me the entire time as she ate her own breakfast like I was a bug under a microscope.

The doorbell rang and she made no move to go answer it so I left my warm bowl of rice on the counter and went see who it was.

I opened the door to see a middle-aged deliveryman standing there in a light brown uniform with a cap on his head and a clipboard in his hand.

"Is this the Sugiyama residence?" He asked as he adjusted his hat.

"Yeah." I answered dryly as I leaned against the doorframe with my hands on my hips.

He thrust the clipboard into my hands. "I need you to sign here." He pointed at a dotted line before supplying my with a ballpoint pen.

I arched an eyebrow curiously, but I complied and signed my name. I had no clue what was going on or that someone in my family had ordered something. Was it new equipment for the bakery? However, this guy wasn't wearing the same uniform that the deliverymen we got around here usually wore.

He took back the clipboard and the pen and looked over my signature approvingly before beckoning someone behind him, "Bring it in, boys!"

He sauntered out of the way as two bulky man come in carrying a huge fish tank filled.

My jaw dropped as they set down the tank in the back of the hallway. No way…it couldn't be…they didn't…

The deliveryman tipped his hat to me before leaving, the two muscular men following after him.

I shut the door with one hand and hesitantly faced the fish tank in disbelief. I walked over to it and bent down to get a better look at clear water that had three small Koi swimming around their lavishly interior decorated tank. Their scales glinted and sparkled in the fluorescent lighting, catching my eyes and making me grin for the first time this over the course of seven long days.

I mentally jotted down that I owed it to Hunny to bake him a huge cake for this favor. I was going to bake him such a superb cake that he wouldn't be able to eat another bite after he finished it. Heck, I'd bake him a thousand cakes.

As for Mori, he can have as much Natto as he wants the very next time he came to the bakery.

Albeit, there was a transparent problem with this; how was I going to get this into my brother's hospital room? And what would my parents think when they discovered it?

"Who was it?" My mother questioned abrasively as I reentered the kitchen.

"Delivery." I answered curtly, trying to hide my pleased smirk as I grabbed a pair of chopsticks, sat myself at the table across from her, and started eating my now cold rice.

**XXXXXX**

Dc-chan: I had trouble writing the first part of this chapter; I hope it turned out okay. More on Kei and Nodoka's history together in upcoming chapters. I'm hoping to do one more chapter before I leave on my trip on July 22nd. I think I can manage that…I mean, I hope I can manage that.

Moving on…

Seriously dudes, the reviews for the last chapter made me so fricking happy I could've tap-danced in public and not give a damn if people gave me strange looks. Mucho love to all of you.

Peace out and don't forget to tip your waitresses before you leave!

;D

HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13th!


	11. Outbursts

Episode 11 of Luckiest Loser

Outbursts

"NODOKA! WHAT IS THIS IN THE HALLWAY?"

Muwhaha…

I shoved a mouthful of rice in my mouth with my chopsticks to keep myself from laughing. My cheeks were burning red from just trying to keep the hilarity of the situation to myself without revealing my satisfying amusement to her.

"YOU SAID IT WAS JUST A DELIVERY!" Her shouts made the house shake from its foundations to the roof.

I blinked innocently and swallowed my mouthful of rice before replying. "Well, I never said it was small, did I?"

I trudged down the sidewalk with my hands in my pockets as I made my way to the family bakery to pick up a strawberry cake for Haruhi because I had to be at her apartment in little less than an hour for my next tutoring session.

My heavy bookbag, filled with textbooks, notebooks and writing utensils, was slung over my aching shoulder and I cursed loudly at the strain.

Stupid bag. Stupid books.

Unexpectedly, I sneezed and felt slightly light-headed for a few minutes. Maybe I was catching a cold…? It wasn't unusual for me to get sick when the seasons changed.

I must've been walking for another ten agonizing minutes before I finally reached my destination only to discover that it was swamped with customers. I groaned quietly as I pushed open the door and began squeezing past people to get to the counter where my mother was. While doing so I get elbowed in the ribcage a few times and a middle-aged woman whipped her head around suddenly and her long braid nearly decapitated me, but I managed to duck just in the knick of time. I made me way to my mother cautiously, hoping that I wouldn't acquire any injuries in the process.

My mother scowled when her sharp eyes settled on me. "You're not working today."

"I know that," I said, trying to sound calm rather than apathetic, "but I need to pick up something for Haruhi."

She pursed her lips together tightly as she always did before she was going to say something that would make my stomach churn. "No."

"What? Why not? I'm just picking up a cake!" I nearly shouted at her in exasperation. I tried to be calm, yelling at her would only make things worse and I wager neither of us were in the mood for a public shouting match.

"You should have thought about that before you accepted that delivery. Did you honestly think that was funny?" She put a hand on her hip as she placed her other one firmly on the counter.

"You think I ordered that?"

"Who else then?"

I stiffened. What was I supposed to say? I couldn't exactly tell her that Hunny and Mori, the one who had stopped her from slapping me in the hospital no less, had sent the fish tank full of Koi to our house even if it was for Tetsushi. She would blow a gasket if I divulged that much to her. I bit my lip, resolving not to say another word on the subject.

I hunched my shoulders over as she went back to work taking people's orders and ignoring me. I should've known that the delivery was going to come back and bite me in the ass. Then again, my mother was the unreasonable type or perhaps she was just using it as in excuse to be mean to me today. I couldn't really blame her though, whenever the bakery's this full of customers I get a little stressed out too.

Turning around, I exhaled heavily. What did I ever do to her anyway besides not living up to her expectations? That was something I didn't really like to wonder about too long mostly because I could never find a good enough reason and that made me frustrated.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and whirled around to see Arisa standing behind me with a box in her hand and grinning at me. She had an apron tied around her waist and flour sprinkled across her face with her hair tied back.

I inwardly gasped.

She looked like she had been…working for a change?! Or maybe with my mother's presence at the bakery she had to give off the distinct impression that she was working or else she'd be fired. Still, I was somewhat impressed.

I arched an eyebrow, puzzled by her sudden appearance. "What?"

"Here. Don't tell your mom." She whispered as she trusted the parcel into my hands before briskly disappearing into the mob.

I slowly looked down at the small white box in my hands inquisitively and crinkled my nose. I waited until I was safely outside –yet again, dodging the same middle-aged woman's lethal braid as she whipped her head around for a second time- until opening it to find that it contained a pristine strawberry fruitcake.

* * *

Three hours, two slices of cake, and one glass of milk later marked the end of my tutoring session for the afternoon with Haruhi. I was surprised we had managed to go for so long and that she had tolerated my lack of understanding of the material so well. I was so sure she was going to reprimand me for forgetting to study the text, but she didn't. In fact, this afternoon had been relatively painless despite how agonizing I usually found math and history. However, just because I was gradually understanding the concepts better didn't mean I was enjoying it. The more I began to absorb, the more I realized that I really wasn't the 'school type'. I didn't want to go to college after high school unless it was a specialized culinary one. 

"I think you just need to go over the practice problems on your own and if you have any questions you can call me or we can work through them next time." Haruhi said as she finished her piece of cake. She placed the fork back onto her plate before picking up her plate and mine as well before bringing them over to the sink.

I heard the sound of running water and clinking metal as she washed the plates and utensils.

Folding my arms on the low table, I rested my chin on them. My eyes felt dry from all the reading and my right hand hurt from writing notes, but I felt a sense of accomplishment.

"How are you today, Nodoka-chan?"

The sound of Ranka-san's voice nearly made me jump out of skin and I ended up banging my knees underneath the table because I was so startled by his abrupt arrival by my side. "R-Ranka-san?" I faltered as I rubbed my tender knees. He could at least apologize for making me hurt myself! Then again, if I had been more aware of my surroundings then I probably wouldn't have been taken off-guard by him. There was no one to blame, but myself and I hated that.

He sat down next to me, smiling like everything was perfectly okay and that he hadn't just scared the crap out of me. It was typical of him to behave like this. He almost reminded me of Tamaki in some respects, or was it the other way around? That goofy smile of his as he batted his lashes at me seemed genuine like he really was pleased to see me, but I couldn't be sure if it was that or the fact that he was greatly amused that he had succeeded in terrifying me.

Haruhi turned off the faucet and peered over the counter at her father while wiping her hands on a small towel. "You're home early."

"Ah, Papa gets worried when his precious daughter and her friend are home all alone." Ranka-san answered in a compassionate tone as he gazed at his daughter in earnest. "Besides, it's been a while since I've had time to sit down and chat with Nodoka-chan here, isn't that right?"

"Actually," I began anxiously as I stuffed a textbook into my bag, "I was just getting ready to leave."

He rapped his knuckles against the table, obviously taking my words with a grain of salt. "But it's been so _loooong_." He protested in a mother-like manner. "You're not avoiding me, are you? Would you really be that heartless? Haruhi, your friend is unusually cold and cruel today."

I sweatdropped. "Don't go whining to her," I muttered tartly.

"How about you stay for dinner?" Ranka-san suggested cheerily as he hugged my arm. "We have so much catching up to do."

"Dad, she doesn't have to stay if she doesn't want to." Haruhi chimed in, saving me from having to answer her father myself.

"Oh, nonsense! Of course she wants to stay."

"You're pressuring her."

"But I like to talking to your friends and it's not like you tell me anything about school. Besides, Nodoka-chan said she'd be more than delighted to have dinner with us tonight."

I pulled my arm out of his embrace. I put my clenched fist on the table and glared at him in annoyance as a throbbing stress mark appeared on my forehead. "Stop putting words in my mouth." I didn't know if he was trying to get on my nerves or if he was thinking he was doing me a favor. Either way, he was irritating as heck.

He chuckled lightly into his hand. "I would never do such a thing. I thought you knew me better than that." Ranka-san then gave me a sly look. "Do I need to get out the rope again?"

I paled and stared horrified at him. The memories of him holding me hostage against my will were still vivid images in my mind. He really had no shame and would do anything to get his way. I couldn't decide if he was just acting selfish or being an idiot.

"Rope?" Haruhi asked suspiciously.

Ranka-san clapped his hands together nervously as a large bead of sweat slid down his temple. "Never mind. You know Papa likes to joke around! I would never ever tie Nodoka-chan's wrists and ankles together to prevent her from leaving."

Smooth. _Real_ smooth.

Bastard. He's just trying to avoid Haruhi getting mad at him. I bet she has absolutely no clue how many times her father has basically gagged and tied me up.

However, I decided not to speak up about it. It was far too embarrassing to share with anyone and I didn't want to be a cause of trouble between Haruhi and her father. I disliked hearing families argue and I didn't want Haruhi to get mad at Ranka-san for something that was mostly my fault in the first place. If I only I could evade his inhumanly fast knot-tying abilities…I could dream, right?

There was a knock on the door and Haruhi, since she was the closet, went to answer it.

She opened the door and I took notice of her deadpan face when she saw the Host Club standing outside her apartment.

"Haruhi!" Tamaki cried in an enthusiastic tone, clearly beside himself to see her.

The Twins roughly pushed Tamaki out of the way. "Pardon us, Milord." They said in sync as they entered Haruhi's apartment followed by Kyoya, Mori and Hunny.

I felt tense as they greeted Ranka-san and sat around the table. The room began feeling awfully cramped and I noticed most of them were sitting with their knees hugged against their chests. It looked rather stupid to my eyes and I wondered what on earth could they be thinking.

Whatever, to each their own.

"I didn't know you'd be here as well, Nodoka." Tamaki stated joyfully as he spotted me. "What a coincidence!"

"Coincidence?" Haruhi tilted her head to one side in disbelief. "Didn't you ask me just two days ago at school when was the next time I would see her?"

"Ah, well…you see…" Tamaki trailed off, clearly at a loss for words having been caught red-handed.

"If you're just here to bother us then go home." Haruhi told him bluntly.

Tamaki retreated to his corner of woe to sulk and cultivate mushrooms.

"I think I'm going to change." Ranka-san announced in a frivolous fashion. He got up and left the room, but not before giving Tamaki a good smack on the back of his head with a sadistic smirk plastered on his face.

Poor, poor Tamaki.

"Nyo-chan! Did you get the Koi?" Hunny asked with wide eyes while cuddling Usa-chan as he took the spot next to me that had been previously occupied by Ranka-san.

I nodded at the small blonde-haired boy. "Yeah, but I can't say my mother was too thrilled…"

"She doesn't like Koi?"

I laughed tautly, trying to mask the unpleasant emotions the mere thought of my mother gave me. "It's not that. She was simply surprised." I didn't have the heart to tell him that my mother was actually furious at me, especially after he and Mori went through all that trouble. I'm such a liar.

He beamed sweetly at me. "I hope your younger brother likes them."

I glanced up at Mori for a second who had his dark eyes focused on me intently as if he was waiting for me to say something. I clutched the hem of my shirt and forced myself to divert my eyes back to Hunny. I smiled. "I'm sure he'll love them."

From the corners of my eyes I saw a grin tug on Mori's lips.

A faint pink tinge crossed my cheeks and I looked down at the table, letting my long bangs cover my eyes from everyone's sight. I started feeling groggy again like I had in the morning on my way to the bakery.

It was then that I spied some of my textbooks laying on the table in plain view. Mortified, I started shoving them back into my bag and hoping that I had done so in time that no one saw them. The last thing I wanted at the moment was for them to see that I was retaking classes.

The effort was too late though.

"What's this?" One of the twins picked up my algebra textbook with interest.

I lunged over the table in a panic to snatch it away from him, but he held it out of my reach. Why did I have to be so short? If only my arm had been a bit longer I would've been able to grab it.

"Give it to me." I ordered through gritted teeth.

He flipped through the pages as his identical brother draped his arm over his shoulder. "I didn't know you were a first year in high school, I thought for sure you were older than Hikaru and I."

I froze, this was the exact moment I dreaded. I retreated back to my side of the table and put my hands in my lap as my face burned in abashment. How was I suppose to answer this without looking like the dimwit I was who couldn't even pass a few normal high school classes?

I twiddled my thumbs dumbly. "Actually…" Damn this was humiliating! You'd think I'd be used to making a fool of myself around these guys by now with a cake falling on head on our first meeting and whole Tanabata Festival fiasco, but that wasn't the case. If anything, it got worse every time. "…I'm in my second year of high school." It came out easier than I thought it would, but I felt upset for telling them that.

An awkward silence filled the apartment. Even Tamaki got of the corner (once he realized no one was paying any attention to him) and stared at me with raised eyebrows.

I wanted to fade away from existance right then and there.

"I kind of failed some classes so I have to retake them." I continued hesitantly. "Haruhi's been tutoring me in the subjects I have trouble in."

I was really digging my own grave right now. I was already six feet deep under ground and every word I uttered was like burying myself. Well, they would've found out sooner or later, right? However, I would've personally preferred later, but then when has life ever been that fair to me?

"You have to-"

"-retake classes?"

Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged glances with one another before they burst out laughing, holding their sides as they rolled around on the floor in hysterics.

Insensitive, pompous jerks. I already disliked them for dressing me up for the festival and now I only had reason to hate them even more.

They didn't know how aggravating it was to sit through a class and not understand any of the material presented by the teacher or how difficult it was for me to take good notes.

I fumed silently. I didn't like being laughed at, who did? Particularly because this was such a touchy subject for my family and caused me to be the victim of earsplitting screeching that was bound to make me go deaf one day, courtesy of my mother.

I picked up my bag and impulsively threw it at them in rage. I missed and I swore under my breath at my horrible aim. It was childish of me to throw something at them, which in a way brought me down to their level, but I was too enraged to care what they thought of me.

"Shut up! It isn't funny!"

Everyone was quiet again with their eyes glue to me like I was a volcano that had just erupted. I had never in my life had an explosion like that at anyone so I'm sure even Haruhi was taken back by my backlash. Though, my scream had nowhere near the ferocity of my mother's it was just as vicious and cutting.

I stood up, my eyebrows etched downward dangerously in a 'V' and frowning. I stormed outside, the chilly late afternoon weather hit me like an icy blast of air as I slammed the door closed.

Maybe I was overreacting? They were probably just teasing me in their own weird way that I wasn't accustomed too, but after recent events I had become moodier than usual.

As I stomped down the stairs and onto the sidewalk I heard heavy footsteps following me. I picked up my pace, hoping that it was just my imagination and that I was really alone.

Although, if it turned out that either Hikaru or Kaoru were tailing me right now I was going to strangle them. I didn't care if they were going to apologize, I was going to murder them regardless if they were going to say they were sorry or not.

I stopped short and the footsteps behind me also paused.

"Leave me alone you pig headed, arrogant, rude-" I whirled around to face them, but my narrowed eyes softened when I found that it was Mori standing behind me instead of Hikaru and Kaoru like I had anticipated. I was slightly relived, but also ashamed that I had yelled at him in such a manner while thinking he was someone else. I felt like a complete fool.

He held up my bookbag. "You left this behind." His deep voice matched his stoic face. He waited for me to take it patiently while towering over me, his huge shadow overlapped my tiny one on the pavement.

I took it from him shakily. "Thanks," I muttered as my face turned beet red. I fidgeted uncomfortably and tugged at my shirt as he kept standing there, which in turn made me feel rather peculiar. Was he waiting for me to apologize for cursing at him? -Not that I was actually cursing at him, but why else would he still be here?

All this over analyzing was giving me a headache. Feeling dizzy, I sat down on the curb with my head in my hands. What perfect timing to have my head feel like it was threatening to split open, ne?

A cold gust of wind went by causing me to shiver before sneezing twice into the sleeve of my shirt.

Mori crouched down beside my small frame and pushed my bangs up as his warm hand met my forehead. "You have a fever."

XXXXXX

Musical Inspiration: _Ramp! The Logical Song_ by Scooter

Dc-chan: So, it's that time of year when I go the East Coast for three weeks to visit relatives. I'll try to update over there because I know my aunt and uncle, whom I'm staying with for two of the three weeks, have internet access. -poses- I'll do my best!

Once again, I cannot stress enough how much I appreciate all the awesome reviews for the previous chapter! And the number of people who have this story on their Favorites and Alerts lists scares me (in a good way).

Peace out.

P.S. I'm not too happy with this chapter. I think I'll edit it before I leave to make it all nice and sparkly for you guys.


	12. Remedy and Dream

100th REVIEW MARK! HECKYES:D

XXXXXX

Episode 12 of Luckiest Loser

Remedy and Dream

I rolled the cookie dough into a ball in my hands before placing it on the small tray next to other globules of dough neatly lined in rows. I then proceeded to pick up the tray and put it in the oven before setting the timer; in twenty minutes or so I would have made my fourth batch of cookies today.

I wasn't allowed in the bakery because of my illness and I had missed three days of school so I was nearly on my breaking point unless I could find a way to pass time in a desirable fashion. A great way for me to occupy myself was to bake, not that anyone would be able to eat anything I made because most likely everything I baked was covered in my germs. That fact was somewhat disheartening as I glanced across the room at the kitchen table that was covered in bunt cakes, brownies, lemon squares, and other various sweets that would go to waste.

I had layered myself in a turtleneck, a sweatshirt, cozy pajama bottoms and my fuzzy pair of slippers to prevent myself from shivering. Despite my best efforts to keep snug, my cheeks were still flushed like I had been outside in the cold for far too long and the tip of my nose was red from sneezing.

Leaning against a counter, I placed a hand on my forehead. It was still warm, but not as much as it had been on Saturday when Mori had diagnosed me with a fever on the street curb. As soon as the word fever passed his lips I had squeaked in surprise as he instinctively slung me over his shoulder and carried me to my house. My eyesight had gotten blurry on the way so I wasn't able to witness the staggering reaction of Osen, who had answered the door when Mori knocked. I'm sure I would've loved to see the look of shock cross her face when she saw a teenager over a foot taller than she hauling her sick little sister around like a pathetic sack of flour. The next thing I knew, I was buried under the covers in my bed and a cool wash cloth was placed on my hairline. I think I must've passed out for a few hours after that because I remembered waking up early the next morning feeling groggy.

And here I was now feeling much better, but still sick as a dog and in the kitchen…baking.

The timer went off indicting that the cookies were done, interrupting my train of thoughts.

I put on a pair of oven mitts and opened the oven. The aroma of freshly baked sugar cookies filled the kitchen and wafted into the other rooms. However, I was unable to smell the scent because my nose was stuffy but I could imagine it quite well.

It was usually at this exact second that Tetsushi would come bounding down the stairs in a hurry to taste my latest baked goods, but he was still in the hospital. When I was better and not contagious, I resolved to bake him several clusters of snickerdoodles, which were his favorite.

I carefully lifted the metal tray up and held it in my hands, wondering if there was anymore space in the kitchen to set them down. I could still see thin white tendrils of heat rising from the cookies' crisp surfaces.

Just as I was about to set the tray down, I felt a tingling sensation in my nose. My eye twitched uncontrollably as I tried to stave off the urge that was coming up. My head reared back and before I could restrain myself or cover my nose, I sneezed on my fresh batch of cookies.

I blinked a few times as I looked down at my ruined cookies with a tinge of sadness.

Terrific.

Just what everyone wants to eat too, snot and mucus covered cookies.

"Wow. You can take the girl out of the bakery, but you can't take the bakery out of the girl."

I spun around to see my sister standing in the doorway. She was the splitting image of my mother, a considerably younger version though. She did not yet have the presence of wrinkles gracing her perfectly smooth complexion like my mother had either, which made sense when taking into account that my sister was only twenty-two years old.

"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" She asked with an eyebrow arched in my direction.

"Lying in bed all day is boring." I replied as I dumped the cookies in the trash; they were beyond repair so there was no point in keeping them.

"And what am I going to tell our mom when she gets home and she discovers that you're sicker than before because you were busy being too stubborn to take it easy?"

"I'll deal with it. It's not like she'd throw a sick person out of the window."

"You think she wouldn't?"

I froze in place, horrorstricken. "You think she would?"

Osen shrugged as she leaned over to examine some brownies. "Are these infected with your germs too?"

"It's safe to say that everything is."

She started laughing lightly. "You never think things through, do you?"

I couldn't tell if that was an insult or an honest assessment of my character.

"What do you mean?"

"Surely you knew that if you baked something no one would be able to eat because you're ill, right?"

"I already thought about that." I muttered back as I took the oven mitts off of my hands.

"Yet you still decided to make a heap sugary foods. You're so silly, it's cute."

Did she just call me "cute"?

I steamed silently as I glowered at her. She had always gotten the top grades in her class, was very pretty, and succeeded in everything she tried then to top it all off…she was insanely nice!

Despite how desperately I wished to hate her it was hard for me to do so sometimes. The only times when I felt that I truly abhorred her was when my parents were comparing me to her. It sucks wanting to hate someone, but finding you're incapable of doing so because they're so benevolent and kind. I doubted Osen even knew that our mother and father gave me mounds of grief because I was nothing like her.

Osen ignored my piercing glare. "Now, my silly little sister, let's get you back up to bed."

"I don't want to." I protested weakly as she put her hands on my shoulders and steered me out of the kitchen and upstairs to my bedroom. "I want to bake some more. You can't make me do anything."

"The only way you'll get well is if you get some sleep."

"I don't want to sleep…"

"Then you'll never get better with that attitude."

"I can live with that."

"Do you want me to force cough syrup down your throat? I'm sure that will make you sleepy." Even though she said it with an innocent smile, I knew she was dead serious about the idea.

"Please don't. Cough syrup makes me hallucinate." I mumbled as I crawled into my bed. I pulled my comforter up so it covered the bottom half of my face as my eyes stayed fixed on Osen. It felt nice to be laying down, but I wasn't going to admit it. Doing so would only prove her point and I have a stubborn streak to maintain.

Osen patted my arm gingerly. "You feel better already, don't you?"

Dammit. I hate it when she's right.

"You just take it easy while I go out grocery shopping so mom doesn't notice you used up all the eggs and milk. Also, I don't want you getting out of bed or I'm giving you the medicine, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah." I huffed as I rolled over onto my side while frowning at what she said. In my poor health, I had almost forgotten that I had used up all the milk and eggs. I had also depleted our supply of brown sugar, but I didn't care enough to tell her.

Osen rubbed my head in her dotting and affectionate habit, ruffling my hair between her fingers carelessly. "I'll be back soon." She withdrew her hand and heard the clacking of her shoes as she left my room, closing the door behind her.

I exhaled heavily and my arms inadvertently found Kitsune, the stuffed animal my aunt had given me when I was little, who had been shoved under a pillow. My hands recoiled upon touching the synthetic fur toy, I wasn't in the mood to hug it while I slept or feel its prickling fur tickling my nose.

I closed my eyes, pushing thoughts about baking, neglected stuffed animals, and grocery shopping out of my mind.

* * *

The shrill sound of the doorbell woke me up. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and tumbled out of bed with my blanket wrapped around me like a warm cocoon. I untangled my limbs from the comforter and draped it over my shoulders like a cloak, letting the ends drag on the floor as I walked out of my room and down staircase. 

It occurred to me that I was completely ignoring my sister's orders to stay in bed.

Oh well, it was too late now.

I was already up and I was feeling fairly refreshed from the brief nap so, what harm could come from answering the door?

Once downstairs, I made me way over to the front door and opened it to see who it was.

My eyes grew wide like saucers and I stiffened when I saw that it was Hunny and Mori. They were honestly the last people I was expecting to see. It was quite nippy outside, dark clouds veiled the entire sky and there was a mild wind, so both were clad appropriately in jackets and scarves. Past them, I could see their car parked out in front of my house.

I instantaneously became self-conscious of my appearance while standing in front of them. I'm sure I looked as if I had just been run over by a bus or something of that nature. My hair was disheveled, which is what come from being the typical bed head victim and my skin was whiter than sour cream. I looked like a dreadful imitation of a ghost.

Hunny held a small parcel over his head happily. "We brought you some herbal tea, Nyo-chan! It has medicinal properties that will help get rid of your fever." He offered the box to me, his cheeks rose colored from the chilly weather.

"Umm…thank you." I said as he handed it to me, feeling awkward. I shuffled my feet as I clutched the parcel in my pale hands nervously.

"You're welcome." Hunny responded as he bounced up and down on the heels of his feet. "But it was actually Takashi who suggested it. He said that you didn't seem like the type to like medicine, ne?" He gazed up at Mori with sparkling bright brown eyes and a pleased grin.

Mori nodded solemnly as he shifted his gaze from the small blond boy to me.

"R-really?" I hugged the parcel to my chest as I attempted to hide my blush from their view. I didn't have a clue for why I felt so tense all of a sudden or why my cheeks were turning a light shade of pink, but I knew the fever wasn't the cause of it. It was odd for me to have this strange emotion, which was incredibly unfamiliar to me squirming around in the pit of my stomach.

"Be sure you drink a cup of it every couple of hours." Hunny instructed me in the sternest voice he could muster.

I nodded, the muscles in my body relaxed.

"You'll come see us when you aren't sick anymore, ne?" he then asked in a hopeful tone.

Did he mean that he wanted me to come visit them at _their_ school?

I bit my bottom lip, trying to hide my disdain at the request. "I could do that…"

Hunny beamed at me. "It will be fun! We have lots of cake and sweets to eat!"

I refrained from telling him that I wasn't a fan of sweets so I wouldn't have to see his crestfallen face. "That would be nice." I said, it took some strength to force myself to half-grin at him, but I managed to seem keen to the idea of eating sweets with him.

"We should get going, ne?" Hunny grabbed Mori's hand and gave me one last cheery smile. "Don't forget to drink the tea, Nyo-chan!" They then began walking to the sidewalk and Hunny waved over his shoulder at me before climbing into the car.

Mori turned his head in my direction as his hand rested on the open car door. I couldn't read his expression, it was as impassive as ever, but his eyes didn't reflect that stoic poker face he had on. His dark eyes were soft and possessed a much gentler nature to them.

Then again, it could've just been a wishful observation on my part to think that his eyes were staring at me with something similar to kindness.

He then faced back around and followed Hunny into the car.

I watched as the car then sped away down the street and wondered what Hunny and Mori could possibly be talking about on the other side of the tinted windows.

Retreating back to the kitchen with the parcel in hand, I began looking for a teapot. I couldn't find one so I settled for a chipped kettle, which I then filled with water from the sink. I placed the kettle on the stove and turned it on so a small circle of flames warmed the kettle from beneath it. The flames licked the kettle's porcelain bottom where faint scorch marks were visible. I set the parcel down on the counter near the kettle and went to fetch a cup from a close by cupboard.

In a few minutes time, the audibly high-pitch whistling emitting from the kettle rang in my ears as the water within it boiled and wisps of steam poured from the spout as I poured some of the hot water in the cup. I then opened the parcel Hunny and Mori had given me carefully, once the lid was lifted I could see twelve teabags compacted neatly inside it. With my thumb and index finger I plucked out a single teabag and dipped it gradually into the cup from which wisps of white steam floated upward towards the ceiling. I then grabbed a spoon from a drawer and used it to stir the water, which progressively changed from a clear color to a dark red, almost brown with a faint hint of orange. The strong stench of cloves rose from it and it cleared my stuffy nose a little.

I took the cup in both of my hands, upon meeting the surface of the plastic object I could feel the heat from the hot tea heating up my hands. It was a pleasant feeling, almost as if I had been holding my hands up in front of a fireplace or heating vent like I used to do when I was little during winter when the snow was unbearably cold outside.

I sat down at the kitchen table, peering into the liquid anxiously. It smelled nice so hopefully it didn't taste horrible. I couldn't stand tea that had a bad aftertaste to it.

Summoning my body to do what I willed of it, I brought the cup close to my lips. I paused, my mouth was salivating as I felt the warmth radiating from the tea wash over my lips.

Finally, I took a sip. A rather big one too…accidentally.

I'm the undisputed master of reckless mistakes.

The hot liquid scalded and burned my tongue. My sister walked into the kitchen with a bags of groceries in her arms just in time to see me sputter loudly as the tea dribbled down my chin and onto the table.

She dropped the grocery bags on the other side of the table and raised her eyebrows at me in amusement. "You should always blow on it first or at least make sure it won't give your tongue third degree burns."

I shot her a resentful look as I bent over the cup and started gently blowing on the liquid. Its surface rippled away from me every time I blew on it. I continued this until steam stopped raising from it.

I took a much smaller second sip of it, not wanting a repeat of what had just happened. It was still burning, but nowhere near tongue threatening as it had been so I took another sip of it… then another, then another. I watched my sister put the groceries away as I drank the tea that actually tasted a bit like basil and some other flavors I could not identify.

Upon finishing it, my sister whisked the cup away from me. "Now, it's back upstairs for you."

"But-"

"Go." She cut across me in an authoritative tone and pointed towards the stairs.

I pouted, but not even my sad face won any sympathy from her. I drifted up the staircase, the taste of tea lingered on my taste buds.

Once in my room I flopped onto my bed, the springs creak under my weight. I wriggled to get under the covers so that if my sister planned to check on me she would find I was in my bed, though unwillingly.

My eyelids felt heavy and when they closed beyond my control, I went into a restless slumber.

_I was standing in the middle of obscure darkness. My eyes could barely see my own hands as I held them in front of my face._

_"Look, it's the idiot again."_

_There was a click overhead and suddenly a shaft of light shone down on me like a stage light._

_"She never learns, does she?"_

_I recognized the voices._

_"Kaoru? Hikaru?" I called out tentatively. "Is that you?"_

_"Of course," they chorused together, sounding a bit offended, "who else would it be?"_

_I took a cautious step forward and found that the beam of light followed my movements._

_I looked around making sure the Bunny Ship wasn't going to make a sudden appearance. Then I searched for where the Twins' bodies could be in this darkness, but I didn't spy them either. How bizarre, at least I wasn't standing on a brownie this time._

_"You're always so apprehensive," their disembodied voices noted loudly._

_"Am not." I fired back, remembering the bitterness I felt towards them a week ago for laughing at me._

_"And quick to get on the defensive," one of them said._

_"Maybe it has something to do with that Kei guy-"_

_"Don't say his name!" I shouted, my voice echoed off in the distance._

_All was quiet for a few minutes._

_"So he _is _the problem." They were speaking in unison again. "Get rid of him and you've got one less trouble to deal with."_

_"I can't get rid of him, he's like a cockroach…"_

_"Don't make excuses. Why don't you ask someone for help?"_

_"Because he's my problem and I don't want to get anyone else involved." I explained grimly. "I don't want him to hurt anyone on my account."_

_"So that's why you didn't want to talk about him with Hunny and Mori when they caught him trying to jam his tongue down your throat. You're afraid they'll get involved."_

_I nodded. "Yes, I know they're nice and they'd try to help me, but…I don't want either of them to get…"_

_The Twins seemed annoyed with me now. "You want that sleezebag hanging around you all your life then?"_

_"No, but what can I do?"_

_I could visualize them rolling their eyes at me._

_"Tell him off once and for all and if that doesn't work then just ask someone for help already, idiot! If you keep acting submissive when you're around him then he's obviously going to keep pursuing you. Stand up for yourself! You can do that, can't you?"_

I jolted awake, beads of sweat trickled down my neck as I panted heavily. My room was much darker than it had been when I went back to sleep. I glanced out my window and saw that it was night, the moon was barely visual through thick tree branches.

My sister came dashing into my room with her nightgown on and a bottle of cough syrup in her hand. "Are you alright? I heard you tussling in your bed down the hallway."

"I'm okay…" I replied shakily, as the two last two sentences Hikaru and Kaoru said in my dream repeated itself softly in my head.

Osen put a hand to my temple. "Your temperature has dropped, it's still mild though."

"How late is it?" I asked as I rested my head down back against the pillows.

"Well past midnight," she placed the cough syrup on my nightstand before standing up, "Mom and Dad were out hours ago. You take some of that medicine if you start feeling ill, okay?"

She waited until after I grumbled a barely audible yes before leaving my room.

I pulled my covers up so I was nested between them once more, thinking back to my dream. Why, of all the people in the world, did I have to hear their tiresome voices? I didn't even like them yet they'd been in two of my dreams in the past few months and why the heck would they be trying to help me? They didn't even really understand the situation, it was a dream and nothing more. Taking advice from them, even if they were just incorporeal voices inside my head, would be lunatic.

Still, the words struck me as somewhat true.

_"Stand up for yourself! You can do that, can't you?"_

I huffed as I closed my eyes in an effort to go back to sleep.

Like most things, that was easier said than done.

XXXXXX

Musical Inspiration: The Gullah Gullah Island theme song is stuck in my head for some inane reason…DO NOT WANT! DX

Dc-chan: Yeah, this story's moving pretty slowly on the romance front. Perhaps...I fail as a romance writer? I'm trying to do better...;A;

And yes...Nodoka has funky dreams.

The next chapter is lucky number 13! Huzzah. :3

Thanks for the marvelous reviews; they're much appreciated and motivating.

Peace out.


	13. Intervention

Episode 13 of Luckiest Loser

Intervention

I strolled down the aisle of the market with a shopping basket in one hand and a list in the other, which had the ingredients needed for a chocolate fudge cake scrawled on it in my messy handwriting.

It had been a week since Hunny and Mori had dropped by my house and had given me the herbal tea. Much to my surprise, and my sister's, the fever had broken the very next day after two more cups of tea and a long nap. Osen insisted that it was the cough medicine that had done it, but I had a strange inkling that that wasn't the case.

My mother was reluctant to accept the fact that I felt better and kept me in bed for two more days. I figured that perhaps this was in retaliation for the mess I made in the kitchen and all the baked goods I had made that would go to waste. Finally on the third morning, after taking my temperature herself only to see that it was perfectly normal and that I was completely healthy, she let me get out of bed. Despite my good health, she still kept me banned from the bakery just in case, and I quote, "You can never be to sure with colds. I don't want to get all out customers calling in that they've come down with fevers after eating something from our bakery." I resisted the urge to call her the b-word to her face.

Anyway, unfair mothers aside, I took this opportunity to go the market to set out to do something I meant to accomplish a while ago; bake Hunny a cake. I felt I owed him something for going through all the trouble to send Koi fish to my house and then giving me tea with medicinal properties while I was ill. I didn't know how else to show my gratitude for someone other than to bake them something. Also, I know Hunny would be thrilled to receive a cake, regardless of the circumstances.

As for Mori, I had no idea what to get him after coming to the conclusion that Natto didn't seem like a proper thank you gift.

I picked up a bag of flour and dropped it into my basket before accidentally bumping elbows with someone.

"Sorry." I said quickly as I spun around to apologize to the person only to find myself locking eyes with Haruhi. She was wearing a dress over a pair of jeans and sandals. I wasn't used to seeing her wear any type of clothes that were remotely feminine so I was quite taken back until I realized her father probably had a hand in it. He was always trying to make Haruhi wear more dresses and skirts in order to make his daughter appear more cute. I was glad my mother left me alone this afternoon when she saw me leaving the house in my usual style of a baggy pair of shorts, oversized shirt and sneakers. Though, I always felt a tinge a jealousy over the way Ranka-san would dote over Haruhi. Sometimes I wished my parents were like that, but other times I was happy that they weren't.

Haruhi smiled upon seeing me. "Hey, Nodoka." I saw that she also was carrying a basket in her hand that was almost filled to the brim with food. "Are you feeling better? Hunny-sempai told me that you had a fever."

"Yeah," I started shakily, "I'm feeling much better. However, as soon as I got back to school I had to take the midterm exams." I grumbled the last part. While I was sick I had totally forgotten the upcoming midterms and I was subjected to take them as soon as I got back so I didn't have any time to study or prepare for them.

"How did you do on them?" Haruhi asked, sounding interested. She probably wanted to find out if our tutoring session were really helping me or not. I couldn't blame her for being curious on the matter.

"I placed 145th." I replied with a small grin.

"Out of how many?" she pressed with an arched eyebrow.

I bit my lip in thought as I tried to remember how many classmates I had. "I think…out of 175. Quite the improvement, ne? I used to always come in dead last." In the views of many, I still was probably considered a horrible student and my parents constantly reminded me, despite the improvement in my test scores, of that. Needless to say, I was rather proud of my small accomplishment even if they weren't.

Haruhi seemed to take this in stride. "That's good to hear. I thought for certain that you weren't going to do well on it since you've been struggling with all the material." She said in a tone that indicted no malice, but was still awfully straightforward. Ah, Haruhi. I can always count on you to be so blunt.

"Well, I understood it better than thirty of my classmates this time." It was a great feeling not to be at the bottom of the heap anymore.

We walked down the aisle together as we continued our shopping and the conversation died away. The silence that fell over us wasn't awkward or filled with tension as I was accustomed to, it was merely the quiet that came over two friends when they didn't have anything else to say, bit still enjoyed one another's company. I didn't mind it either, it was nice just hanging around someone who was a friend.

Haruhi paused and bent over to examine some meat in the deli.

I stood next to her, waiting patiently. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flurry of movement behind a shelf that knocked a can of soup over onto the ground. The can rolled towards me and stopped as it hit my feet. I picked it up off the ground with my eyebrows knitted together in bewilderment. I returned it back to its spot on the end of the shelf before looking around the corner to see that it was Ranka-san who had been trying to hide from our view and I had clearly found him. What was he?-a stalker? Most likely he followed Haruhi to watch over her. It was presumably one of those fatherly habits of his that he had developed over the years.

"Oh, Nodoka-chan! What are you doing here?" He asked in fake astonishment as he clapped his hands together like it was a nervous reflex. He was still in his work attire too; red pumps, makeup, a long dress that fluttered around his ankles when he walked, and a denim vest. It was easy to see why some people didn't approve of his lifestyle, but I didn't care particularly. It was a little sad though that me made a prettier woman than me.

"I think the real question is," I gave him an acute stare, "what are _you_ doing here?"

Haruhi rounded the corner and joined us. She didn't look surprised to see him. However, she didn't seem too overjoyed when her father suddenly lurched forward and swept over her in an overbearing embrace.

"Haruhi! You look so adorable today!" He cooed affectionately.

Haruhi gave him a slightly annoyed look and pulled away from him. "I'm going to go to the register to pay then I'm going start dinner at home. I'll see you there," she said in a careless tone. She turned on her heel and started moving away despite her father's numerous protests for her to stay.

Ranka-san looked crestfallen. "And I go through all that trouble to make her look cute…" he mumbled to himself with a sad face. This was the first time I ever thought Ranka-san must have a hard time being a father to Haruhi. He was usually cheerful, even when being violent towards someone like Tamaki. Then again, he should know better by now that his daughter wasn't the type that would reform to his appeals of making her more girly or his over the top public displays of endearment.

He regained his posture before taking notice that I was still there. "So, what brings you out to the market so late?"

I gestured to the basket I was holding. "I'm going to bake Hunny a cake tonight." I explained to him simply. My statement was met with the response I expected.

"Do you think that's wise? Aren't you still sick?"

"No, of course not!" I replied sternly and a little louder than I intended. "I would never bake Hunny a germ infested cake! I'm not evil!"

Ranka-san laughed airily into his hand. "I'm sure Hunny will love it then. Speaking of him though…" he trailed off as a rare somber expression crossed his face. He then folded his arms across his chest. "Both of those seniors from Haruhi's school, Hunny and Mori, asked me about a certain dark haired friend of yours when they last came over. Well, of course it was Hunny who was doing all the talking, but he sounded worried and they both looked concerned."

"T-they did?" I stammered. I diverted my eyes to the floor and frowned. I would give anything for that night at the festival not to have ended the way it did.

"I told them he was just an old acquaintance of yours," Ranka-san said as he pushed a lock of hair behind his ear.

I raised my eyebrows. "Really? You didn't tell them anything about him?" Ranka-san was notorious for having a big mouth, but for once it seemed as if he had been able to restrain himself. He was one of the few people who had known about my relationship with Kei and he was even the one who had warned me against dating him. Maybe he felt guilty for not trying to do more to stop it before everything spiraled out far out of my control. Even now, I had always felt like an idiot for not heeding his wise advice in the first place when he told me Kei was a bad apple and that I shouldn't get involved with him.

"I had a hunch that you wouldn't want me to tell them anything although, it did go against my better judgement." He gave a sage nod.

I sighed as I rubbed the back of my neck. "Thanks anyway. I just don't want someone to get hurt trying to defend me and I don't exactly want to publicize the relationship either. If my parents ever find out about it…" A bead of sweat slid down the side of my head as I thought of the dire consequences and I decided not to finish that sentence.

"But if he lays one more hand on you then all bets are off," he said harshly, "I will tell those two what's going on."

My eyes widened in horror at those words. "Why? You can't! I don't want-"

He sighed in aggravation before cutting me off and he spoke from experience as if he had seen this exact thing happen to other people he knew and cared for. "Nodoka, you don't seem to understand how dangerous this situation has become. Your personal safety is at risk. Remember what he did to you when you broke up with him?"

The sheer fact that Ranka-san didn't use the 'chan' suffix at the end of my name showed he meant business. I put my hand against my cheek and recalled the painful feeling when a tender blue and purple bruise was once there a few months ago. I remembered how much it had hurt and how I lied to my parents saying that I got hit in the face with volleyball in PE during school. It was hard to believe that my parents bought such a poorly thought out lie, but they did. I put an ice pack on it for days until the swelling went down and it eventually disappeared like it had never been there.

He stood directly in front of me and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. "You don't have to go through these things alone especially when others want to help you."

I exhaled grimly. I began feeling uncomfortable under the weight of his gaze. "I need…I need to finish shopping." I fidgeted, I just wanted an excuse to be alone with my thoughts and take in what Ranka-san had told me. He was reaching out to help me yet all I could think about was to avoid getting him more and more involved in this tangled mess. How could I make it anymore obvious to everyone that I didn't want them to get caught up in this?

Ranka-san's hand slid off my shoulder and he dropped his arm to his side. "Alright then." He then cupped his chin in his hand. "I'm positive Haruhi is wondering why her papa isn't home yet. I'll see you around then, yeah?" He winked at me.

I nodded slowly and watched him as he left the store, his pumps clacking softly against the tile floor with each step. For some reason, the sound reminded me of rain falling against a glass window during a storm.

I hastily finished my shopping and fumbled while handing the money to the woman at checkout to pay for the ingredients necessary for a chocolate fudge cake. Ranka-san had indeed shaken up my nerves quite a bit in the process of lecturing me. When the woman handed me the plastic bag with my purchases inside I almost let it slip through my fingers because I wasn't paying attention to anything going on around me.

With the plastic bag firmly in my hand, I hurried outside. The cold air evening air stung my checks and I wished I had brought a jacket or at least wore long pants.

I shivered uncontrollably as I walked along the sidewalk and I hugged myself with my free arm in attempt get warmer.

Soon though, a new feeling of coldness engulfed me as I heard the presence of heavy footsteps behind me…following me. My heart rate increased as a foreboding feeling washed over me as I had a harrowing idea who it could be. The sun was setting in the distance and faint stars could be seen in the sky as night approached; the perfect fearful setting for an unwelcome encounter.

I picked up my pace and turned a street corner before leaning against a fence, waiting to see if I could still hear the footsteps. Minutes of absolute silence trickled by and I decided that maybe I was just being paranoid.

Gathering up my courage, I craned my neck and peered around the corner to see if anyone was there.

I froze as a dark shadow fell over me, it felt like ice water was coursing through my veins and I was gripped with fear. My jaw went slack and trembled as my eyes quivered.

Kei stared down at me, a sly smirk on his lips. "Nice to see you too, Nodoka."

XXXXXX

LE GASP! Was Ranka being serious in this chapter or what?

Dc-chan: This chapter was brought to you from my lovely laptop. I took it along on my trip so I could keep on typing away to my little heart's content. Yay! Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter! I try to reply to all my reviews, but sometimes I'm kind of forgetful and absentminded…sorry if you're one of the ones I've neglected. D':

Anyway, reviews are always loved and they make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. (Damn, this humidity is affecting my poor brain and is making me say weird stuff already…)

Peace out.


	14. From The Inside Out

Dc-chan: I'M ALIVE! –gets smacked with a flyswatter- …not anymore…

****

XXXXXX

Episode 14 of Luckiest Loser

From The Inside Out

Every single curse word I've ever come across in my life raced through my mind in a frenzied panic, like a person sprinting away from someone who had a sharp knife in their hand and was chasing after them. It was terror beyond belief, I felt like a grade school kid whose teacher had to call their parents on account of bad behavior except this was a million times worse. This time there was intimate psychical danger, not to mention all the psychological trauma I was going through. If this continued, I had absolutely no hope of becoming a normal functioning adult in society.

I should scream, I knew I should. Maybe someone would hear and come along to help me…or maybe not. Kei never liked it when I yelled at him to stop and leave me alone. It only made him angrier, which was something I was sure I wanted to avoid. He was nasty when put in a foul mood. Any person with common sense knows better than to upset someone who is temperamental. I had a bad habit of forgetting that when we were dating and any little thing I did would set him off in a violent rage.

I swear, I thought at this point my heart was going to burst through my ribcage because it was pounding so hard. I could hear it pulsating in my ears like African drums and I felt it in my neck just below my jawbone. My palms were sweaty, I had to tighten my grip on the handle of the plastic bag to keep it from slipping through my fingers. My knees wobbled uncontrollably, as if they were after to give out from under me at any given second. Why did he have this frightening effect on me? Even his stare was enough to make me almost choke on the air I was breathing and go speechless for hours.

He slowly closed the gap between us. I could smell his breath and the stench of alcohol filled my nostrils. Great, now I knew I was dealing with a drunken nineteen-year-old. As if dealing with a sober Kei wasn't hard enough, the bastard was tipsy tonight. That became evident as he staggered towards me until he was hovering right above me with that stupid smirk on his face like he owned the entire universe.

I tried to will my body to move, but my feet wouldn't comply with my demands. It was if I was rooted to the spot.

"Nodoka," he said, toying around with my name. "No…do…ka…" Kei rolled each syllable off of his tongue in amusement as I stood still as a statue. He cupped my chin in his rough hands and titled my face up. The smell of alcohol nearly made me gag it was so strong. He always seemed to get so sentimental when he was wasted, there was a hint of endearment in his eyes when he stared at me. "Why do you do this to me?"

"I don't do anything to you," I replied quietly, finally finding my voice. "You do this to yourself."

He laughed. I didn't see what was so damn funny.

Kei leaned down and I could feel his warm breath on the nape of my neck. I desired so badly to push him away because I hated him being so close to me, but my arms wouldn't budge. Stupid, useless arms of mine! What's the point of having them if they're no good to me?

His lips brushed along my jaw line. I wanted to sock him.

One of his arms slid down my side and wound itself around my waist, pulling me towards him until we were only centimeters apart. I would've given anything in the world to have the presence of mind to knee him in the groin.

"Stop it…" I protested weakly.

Kei's arm constricted so tautly around my waist it hurt. It felt like a snake wrapped itself around my torso and squeezing me with more and more force every second, trying to kill me.

"Stop it." My voice was firmer this time.

He refused to listen to me and continued his callous behavior. I squirmed, I wedged my arm in-between our bodies and managed to create some space between us.

He grabbed my arm and twisted it painfully in his grasp. "Don't do that," he muttered darkly into my hair.

I snapped. I totally lost it. I was pissed and fed up with this entire situation. How long was I planning to let him go unchecked? I was so sick of him constantly treating me like his own personal possession. I guess everyone has their limit of how much they'll let someone else treat them like crap and I had at long last reached mine.

"KNOCK IT OFF!"

After freeing my hand, I smacked him –hard- across the face. There was a bright red handprint on his left cheek, courtesy of yours truly. I didn't want to imagine how much it probably stung, it probably felt like he had just plunged into icy deep water or a thousand hot knives burning his cheek. I was shocked at my own actions and I couldn't help but wonder where did _that_ come from? But it had made him stop dead in his tracks; his eyes were wide and staring off to the side like he had just been confounded.

However, wild animals have a tendency to bit you back once you succeeded in scratching them.

I didn't see it coming, I was too busy commending myself for standing up to him.

The next thing I knew was that I was doubled over on the sidewalk and clutching the right side of my face in pain. He had hit me back, right above my eye and it was far more excruciating than any of the previous punches he had hurled at me in the past. I could feel the blood already trickling down the temple. It hurt so much there were tears forming in the corners of my eyes, but I didn't make a sound. I refused to cry like some wounded animal. That would only serve to give Kei the satisfaction he craved.

I thought my head was going to split open, it hurt that much.

I was never going to hear the end of it from Ranka-san if he saw me like this.

* * *

The next three days flew by like a hazy dream. I assumed that this dream like state I was in was the result from the drugs they had given me at the hospital when they stitched up the cut right above my eyebrow. The doctor had given me nine stitches to close the wound, apparently it was deeper than I had thought. The skin around the cut was purple, swollen and sore. It looked like I had been nailed in the head with a baseball.

Osen was the one who took me to the hospital. After I had gotten home that night I tried to play it off like it was just a small scratch, but, according to my sister, blood was gushing out of it like a waterfall. I obviously didn't reveal to her the actual origin of the injury, she seemed to buy the story that I had tripped and had hit my head on a sharp edge outside.

It didn't matter anymore, she didn't know the truth and I was content with keeping it to myself for the time being. The only task ahead of me was avoiding Ranka-san like the plague until it healed completely, which wasn't going to be easy. Especially since Haruhi and I were planning on meeting together in a few days so she could help me go over some material for an upcoming unit test.

I sighed as I began spreading the top layer of thick chocolate icing over the freshly baked cake that was set out in front of me on the kitchen table. It was the chocolate fudge cake that I had made for Hunny as a thank you gift. The only problem was that I didn't know when I'd be able to give it to him so I felt kind of stupid for baking it. I reasoned that I could ask Haruhi to give it to him when she saw him at school if it wasn't too much trouble on her part.

I heard the doorbell ring. I didn't bother answering it though because this was the time of day solicitors came and I was not in the mood to toil with them.

The bell rang again. I dropped the plastic knife I was using to ice the cake into the frosting tin before wiping my sticky hands off on my apron. Solicitors usually didn't ring the bell twice unless they had a death wish. I grabbed a large chopping knife on my way out of the kitchen.

I opened the door with a grimace and I nearly dropped the knife in my hand when I saw the Host Club waiting outside.

"Nodoka!" Tamaki greeted extravagantly as he came forward to embrace me in a hug.

I sidestepped expertly, letting him fall flat on his face. "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't like hugs?"

Hikaru and Kaoru walked over the blonde's back. "You have a nice welcome mat, Noudo-chan!" They chorused noisily as they made a special effort to step on the back of Tamaki's head on their way into my house.

"I never said you could come in!" I yelled at them, waving the knife in my hand dangerously at them.

"It would be rude not to," Kyoya remarked, pushing up his glasses, "considering the fact that we came all this way to see Haruhi only to find that she wasn't home."

"So then you decided to come here, is that it?" I gave him a sour look.

"Is there a problem with that?"

"Yes, there is you-"

"Nyo-chan! Nyo-chan!" Hunny came bounding towards me, his eyes lit up with joy as he tackle-hugged me excitedly. "Did you like the herbal tea Takashi and I gave to you? Are you feeling any better?"

"Err…yeah…" I said, overwhelmed with everything that was going on at once.

"Takashi! She said she liked it! That's great, ne?"

Mori stood in the doorway, after Hunny had spoken the corners of his mouth had turned upward in a small sincere smile.

Once everyone was inside, they all became more exuberant and troublesome. Everything in my house seemed to fascinate them from the creaking floorboards to the "shabby" rugs on the floor.

Hadn't they been in my house before on the night of the festival? At this point, they were just rubbing their wealth in my face. I could only wonder how Haruhi managed to put up with the lot of them. I honestly felt like chucking heavy inanimate objects at them in spite.

None of them commented on my stitches. Perhaps they were less observant than I thought.

"Look! The couches are springy." One of the twins sat down on the couch and began bouncing up and down on it.

"And the television is so tiny!" The other twin bent over the TV and turned it on. He then squinted his eyes like he was having trouble seeing what was on.

I sighed heavily, from experience I should've remembered that they only took notice of trivial things.

"I'm going back to kitchen…" I grumbled, leaving them to do as they pleased as long as it didn't involve bothering me. I stepped into the hallway that led to the kitchen. Why did they feel the constant need to harass Haruhi and me? Were they really that bored?

"Nodoka." A deep and somber voice said, that I recognized as Mori's, came from behind me.

I glanced back at him curiously; a little surprised that he had followed me. "Yes?"

My back was up against the wall suddenly in one fluid motion. His hand was on my shoulder keeping me pinned there while he used the other to turn my head to the side. I knew instantly what he was examining so intently; I could see his eyes trace over the stitches. An emotion flickered across his face, but it was so brief I couldn't register what it was. His brows were angled downward slightly, just like they had been before at the festival when he had seen me with Kei. I didn't know what it meant though. Was he annoyed? Angry? Upset? His expression was too hard for me to read like always.

It was only the two of us in the dimly lit hallway. I could hear everyone else's loud voices in the living room as they made unintentionally snide comments about how cramped my house was or how tiny the fireplace was in comparison to their own. My cheeks were flushed a lovely shade of red as he bent down to get a closer look.

"What happened?"

"Nothing." I replied mechanically. "I tripped."

He didn't believe me for a second, I could the visible doubt as plain as day on his face even from within the shadows.

Mori arched an eyebrow, his lips were pursed together in a small frown.

"…is that so?"

I looked down at the carpeted floor before nodding gravely. I didn't want to lock eyes with him in fear that his strong gaze would see through me and break me down. I felt so remorseful for lying to him, but I didn't want to recall what had transpired to anyone. It had always been my silent resolution to never speak openly about what went on between Kei and myself. The fact that Ranka-san knew what was going on was because he was a sharper observer than I gave him credit for and Arisa just happened to be one of his gossip buddies.

Mori was similar to Ranka-san, it was as if he had an acute intuition of what I was trying my best to hide from him.

He stared at me unblinkingly. He withdrew his hand from my cheek and placed it next to my head on the wall behind me. I watched as his fingers curled into a relaxed fist.

I could feel his strong gaze on my stitches, eyeing the prominent scar beneath them and the horrible bruise surrounding it. He retained his front of stoniness, making it impossible for me to access what was going through his mind presently. However, like I noted before on the day when he and Hunny had visited my home to give me some herbal tea, his dark eyes were the most expressive part of him. Something was stirring behind his pupils; some muddle of emotions that was far beyond my comprehension.

I bit my bottom lip, which was trembling a bit from the tension in the air.

It had at last occurred to me how physically close he was to me, which made me anxious and scared. I didn't like it when someone was this close to me even if they were good-natured. Still, there was this hushed nagging voice in the back of my mind that warned me to be wary of everyone in close proximity in fear for my own well being. I wasn't precisely sure if this was fear I was feeling or an invasion of personal space. I don't know why, but I felt both terrified and intrigued. I don't think I've ever felt this strange.

However, it didn't seem to matter how I was feeling at the time because I still had the same reflex that I possessed around everyone with Kei being the sole exception.

I put my hand on Mori's chest and used all my strength to push him away from me. I then reaffirmed my previous statement, "I told you, I tripped." I left it at that as I brushed past him and reentered the kitchen.

The next two hours went by rather smoothly.

The Host Club were busily examining all the common place things in my house to pester me much.

I actually managed to finish Hunny's cake and give it to him as well. He received it gleefully, the sparkles in his eyes made him look like a little child who just found out that Christmas had come early. Unfortunately, the cake disappeared into his mouth faster than it had taken to bake it. I felt like all the effort (and hell) I went through to make it had gone to waste, but he voiced his thanks loudly over and over so I felt much better about it.

Around seven or so in the evening they got bored and left. Only Tamaki and Hunny had the courtesy to say good-bye to me as Mori watched quietly from afar. I was grateful that the Twins didn't speak a word to me, I was still furious at them. I didn't particularly care that I didn't have any further interaction with Kyoya either, his ESP and cold demeanor made me wary of him.

Once they were gone, I felt drained and exhausted as if they had sucked all of the energy out of me. I think I must've fallen asleep on a couch in the living room for a few hours because when I woke up the room was dark because none of the lights had been turned on and there was no sunlight coming through the windows.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes as the phone in the kitchen rang. On my way to pick up the phone, I stole a glance at the digital clock on one of the counters to see that it was almost nine at night.

I picked up the phone and held it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Ah, Nodoka-chan! It's wonderful to hear your voice so late at night." Ranka-san said happily on the other end of the line.

I stifled a yawn. "Why are you calling?" My tone sounded more hostile than intended.

"Well, you see Nodoka-chan," he started in a pleasant voice, "two of Haruhi's classmates came over to see me about twenty minutes ago."

"So?"

"They wanted to talk to me about someone in particular whom they were worried about…"

My body became rigid. "Mori and Hunny," I breathed.

"They told me something quite troublesome when they arrived. Apparently, you have stitches now. Is that true?"

"Yeah…" He knew. It was all over. I recalled his words from when we spoke in the market and shuddered. He told them, it was that simple.

"I thought so. Neither of them would lie about something this serious. I also heard that you rudely rebuffed Mori when he asked about it." Ranka-san informed me, as if I had somehow also offended him.

"Ranka-san!" I said sharply, breathing heavily. "What did you tell them?"

He remained silent on the other end of the phone for a while. All I could hear his soft intakes of breath for the next five minutes.

"Ranka-san!" I persisted angrily through gritted teeth. "What did you say? Please, I have to know!"

Another wave of silence came, my heart pounded in my chest as I awaited his answer and dreading the worst.

"Nodoka," his voice was sordid and melancholy, "I told them."

"How much did you tell them?" I demanded, my face began feeling hot.

"Everything."

The phone slid from my hand and clattered onto the kitchen floor. I sunk to the floor as well, my legs folded under me and my hands in my lap. For some indescribable reason, I had a miserable feeling that things were just about to get a lot more difficult for myself and the two seniors, Mori and Hunny.

****

XXXXXX

Musical Inspiration- _The Final _by Dir En Grey

Dc-chan: The next chapter will be up real soon! I apologize for the fact that this fic isn't as funny as other ones out there. It's actually getting quite serious. I had wanted it to be a comedy in the beginning, but it just didn't turn out that way. Oh well, I'll try my best to live with it.

Thank you for the reviews!!

Peace out. XD


	15. Over My Head

Episode 15 of Luckiest Loser

Over My Head

I watched silently as my brother munched on the batch of snickerdoodles I had baked specifically for him. His hospital room seemed a lot more cheery than the last time I visited. Classmates had sent him cards as well as presents and there were colorful strings of paper cranes hanging from the light fixture above his bed. He was more pleasant now too, in the past few weeks he had come off as grumpy and irritable. I supposed this was because in a few days he would be released from the hospital, which had confined him for so long. This news brightened up my gloomy mood some, but I was still sullen.

Tetsushi took quick notice of my indifferent disposition.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked as he fished another snickerdoodle out of the zip-lock plastic bag I had put them in.

I shifted in the chair I sat in, my eyes looking past him and out the window at the cloudy sky. "Nothing," I replied absentmindedly.

He took a bite out of his cookie and chewed thoughtfully. I could see the gears in his mind turning from where I sat beside him. The time he had spent in the hospital seemed to have matured him; he was far more perceptive and intuitive than before. However, I guess he thought it best to not pursue the reason I was bitter, a wise choice on his behalf, and directed the topic of conversation elsewhere.

"How are my fish?"

"Fine. I fed them before I came here."

"How often do you feed them?"

"Whenever I remember that I have to." Which wasn't often, I admit, but I didn't have to tell him that little tidbit. With the help of my father we had managed to haul the tank upstairs and into my brother's room. I had been surprised that my father had received the Koi so well, unlike mother who was still seething over their abrupt arrival, and we even shared a good laugh over it, which was a rare occurrence between the two of us. For some reason, my father had been acting warmer towards me lately.

Tetsushi slapped his forehead with his hand. "It's a miracle they're not dead yet!"

This prompted me to hit him on the side of his head with the side of my hand. "Just because you're covered in bandages doesn't mean I won't assert my older sibling status over you."

He fervently rubbed the spot on his head where I had hit him and gave me a sour expression as if he had been sucking on a lemon all day. "You have no sense of humor."

I stood up from my chair with my fist on my hip. "Yeah, yeah. I'll see you later, Sushi."

As I turned to leave he waved the empty plastic bag at me. "Will you make more of these for me?"

I paused with my hand hovering above the door handle. I glanced over my shoulder. "What's the magic word?"

"_Pleeeeaaasseeee_." He whined in a babyish manner, his eyes were wide and round and brimming with fake tears. "Your baking is the best and you never burn them like Mom does on some occasions."

"Don't let her catch you saying that, she'll throttle you." Or maybe I'm the one who would get punished, I added hastily in my head, she never raises her voice to him like she does to me. She'd probably take it out on me just for the sake of it. I then remembered Tetsushi's question and I snapped out of my dreary train of thought. "I'll bake you some for when I next come by, okay?"

"When's that going to be?" He pressed eagerly.

I turned the door handle and stepped into the hallway while biting the inside of my cheek as I mentally went over my schedule for the next few days. I wasn't too busy to say the least, but the school festival was coming up fast and I had to balance work at the bakery with tutoring with Haruhi. Okay, so maybe I was a tad busy with things, but visiting my recovering brother was far more important than anything currently going on in my life was. Well, except for the whole mess the Kei situation was turning into. When did things get so complicated?

Nevertheless, I knew I had about two hours of free time on Friday between school and getting over to Haruhi's for a tutoring session.

"I'll see you in two days." I finally said. I quickly dashed back to his bedside and gave him a tight hug before leaving his room.

* * *

Friday came much sooner than I expected. 

The sky was filled with dark gray clouds as far as the eye could see and every once in a while there would be a flash of lightning followed by booming thunder, which made most of the girls in my class shriek while the boys laughed at them. I didn't care much for thunder or lightning so I was one of the few girls who didn't jump out of their seats every time the sky outside lit up or a loud, deafening rumble was heard overhead.

As I sat in class all day with a fresh batch of snickerdoodles safely tucked away in my bookbag in a tupperware container my mind wandered to the topic that most irked me. My history textbook lay open in front of me and I was staring down at the pages, but not reading them like I was supposed to be doing.

Ranka-san told them…

That sentence repeated itself over and over a hundred times in my head.

I dreaded my next encounter with Hunny and Mori more than my mother, which was saying a lot because I already feared her more than death itself.

School dragged by tediously, but I managed to not let my feelings overwhelm me like they had in the past.

However, it almost became unbearable when I moved to tuck some hair that had fallen in front of my eyes behind my ear and my fingers somehow brushed over the stitches on my temple. I froze momentarily before dropping my hand to my side and leaving the lock of hair in its place. I don't know why that small grazing touch freaked me out, but it did. I didn't let myself dwell on it for too long though because I knew if I did it would just upset me even more.

When school ended I went to the cubbies and slipped my shoes back onto my feet before leaving the building.

I began walking in the direction of the hospital that was almost two miles away from my school. I knew it was going to take almost forty-five minutes on foot so I decided to use the time to think about what was bothering me in depth.

The first thought that popped into my mind was; what did Hunny and Mori think of the truth? The truth meaning my past relationship with Kei and abuse I suffered through silently. I'm sure Ranka-san over dramatized it, as was in his nature to do so at times, but even what he told them couldn't be too far from the truth.

I wondered what they thought of me. Was I weak in their eyes now for being in a relationship with someone like Kei for almost an entire year? Did they pity me for not having the strength to break up sooner? Was I pathetic for nearly becoming wholly dependent on Kei despite the horrible things he did and said to me?

Yes, I thought grimly as I crossed an intersection while holding my bookbag behind my back, you are weak, pathetic and to be pitied.

Then perhaps, did I deserve what had happened to me if I truly was all those things? After all, had I been strong and outspoken I may have not been a subject of abuse from him and I would've been able to stop it when things started getting out of hand. But no, I had chosen to remain passive and let him go unchecked because I was so terrified of losing him. I thought he was the only one who cared about me; who loved me.

I thought I loved him back.

You were terribly wrong on all three counts, I reminded myself glumly.

He never loved me.

He lied to me.

He used me.

He abused me.

He made me feel worthless.

I was so stupid…I still am and now those two seniors know it too.

Fu-

I felt a wet droplet of water hit the bridge of my nose. I paused mid-step and looked up at the sky. The gray clouds were gathered together and I could hear the low rumbling of thunder in the distance after quick flashes of light. Another drop fell against my forehead, another hit my hand, and another splashed on my cheek. The rain began coming down, first as a light shower then proceeded to get heavier and heavier.

My uniform was soaked in a matter of seconds and my hair was drenched from roots to tips.

I stood still and tilted my face up on a street corner. People were pushing and rushing by me as they tried to escape from the sudden downpour, but I ignored them.

The rainwater was cold and felt nice against my warm skin. It was slightly refreshing and helped me forget for a few minutes my worries and troubles.

As soon as a gust of wind blew though, I was uncouthly brought back into reality when I registered how freezing I felt in the rain. It was like my body had been dunked in ice water.

I scurried under a nearby tree with my arms wrapped around my shivering body and my teeth chattering wildly. At school we were still required to wear our summer uniforms that had short sleeves and we had not yet been able to change into our winter uniforms that had long sleeves and were considerably warmer so my arms were covered in goosebumps.

I rubbed my arms with my icy cold hands in an effort to dry myself off.

I desperately wished that I had a jacket or an umbrella so I could continue on to the hospital to see my brother. I had no clue how long it was going to keep raining so I remained rooted to the spot and hoping it would stop soon. Each time I thought that in my head the rain only seemed to come down harder as if to mock me.

Soon, I could feel the water seeping into my shoes, dampening my socks. I always found having water in my shoes an unpleasant and rather squishy feeling. I wriggled my toes helplessly and got annoyed at the notion that eventually my toes were going to wrinkle up like prunes more the moisture.

I sighed despairingly as a black limousine went speeding by where I was standing. It skirted through a large puddle in the street that was near where I was, which made the water jet out and spray me.

I held up my arms as water dripped from my limbs. I was already wet from before, but now I looked like I had just jumped into a pool with all my clothes on. My clothes clung to my frame uncomfortably as I venomously swore under my breath.

With narrowed eyes and clenched fists, I glared after the car that suddenly came to a lurching stop before slowly backing up until the back window was in front of me. The tinted window rolled down and my rage was suddenly replaced with surprise as a cute boy with blonde hair and big brown eyes stuck his head out.

"Nyo-chan? Why are you outside in the rain?" Hunny tilted his head to one side innocently.

I blinked at him twice with a deadpan face.

"Nyo-chan?" He repeated my name in a concerned tone.

Every fiber in my body told me to bolt, but to where would I run? I would only be hassled at home by my overbearing mother and I had no friends at school that I was close enough so that they would shelter me.

In some ways, this encounter was totally inevitable. I was bound to run into him at some point in my life, wasn't I? Something in my bones told me that I couldn't hide from it forever.

My hands trembled as I clenched them tight enough so that they turned white.

"Are you alright?"

I willed myself to answer. "I'm f-fine," I croaked in a quiet voice.

Hunny stared intensely at me for a minute, I was so sure his eyes were going to burn holes into me. He had a soft and comforting look on his face though.

"Do you need a ride?"

I looked to my left then to my right helplessly. The rain was still pouring down all around me and the only that kept me from getting even more drenched was the tree thick with foliage that I was standing under. It all boiled down to two choices: either sulk in the rain and miss visiting my brother at the hospital like I had promised him or take the ride with someone who knew about my dilemma. It wasn't by any means an easy decision to make, but deep down I felt my obligation to put my brother's feelings before my own.

Swallowing the lump that was forming in my throat, I nodded morosely. I had a feeling that I might regret this, but my brother was still far more important to me. I couldn't bare his disappointment or him thinking that I was a bad older sister ever again.

Hunny smiled brightly and threw open the car door. He scooted over as I climbed in so I would have space to sit down. As soon as I shut the door behind me I felt someone dropping a dry piece of fabric on my head. I clutched the fabric in my hands to find that I was holding onto the sleeves of a blue blazer.

With raised eyebrows, I look up to see that Mori was sitting across from me. He was leaning forward with his forearms resting on his knees while staring at me with his dark eyes. His gaze made me recoil away from him and press my back up against the seat.

"You should wear something dry so you don't catch another cold," he explained clearly in his deep voice.

Butterflies fluttered in the depths of my stomach as a faint pink blush crossed my cheeks. I adjusted his blazer so it was draped over my shoulders like a blanket as I held onto the collar with my bookbag by my feet. A bead of sweat slid down the back of my neck as my heart beat steadily increased.

Why was I feeling like this?

I dropped my gaze to the floor.

I should be scared out of my wits right now! They know for crying out loud yet they're acting just as kind to me as they did before! Hadn't their opinion of me changed when they learned how weak I was?

Hunny broke through my thoughts with his childish voice. "Where are you going?" He swung his legs over the seat as he expectantly waited for me to answer.

I raised my head upon hearing his question, the blush on my cheeks vanished, but I was still slightly flustered. I could tell he really wanted to ask a different question, it written all over his face, but there was something holding him back. Perhaps they wouldn't pry any deeper on the subject that troubled me?

I inhaled sharply as I tried not to think about what could possibly be on their minds.

"…to the hospital."

XXXXXX

Musical Inspiration- _Over My Head_ by The Fray (lyke OMG!!11! Guess where I got the chapter title? I'm sooo creative.)

Dc-chan: I think my writing's getting wonky, perhaps I've been reading _Jane Eyre_ too much? In other news, school's starting soon for me, August 22nd. I'm going to be a senior and I'll be very busy with college applications so I might not update as much as I would like for the next few months. However, I hope this isn't the case as I enjoy writing.

I'm loving the reviews; keep them coming.

Peace out.


	16. Coming Clean

I DID IT!!!

B3

I'll fix any spelling mistakes I catch later, okay? It's past midnight and I'm dead tired…

XXXXXX

Episode 16 of Luckiest Loser

Coming Clean

Nerve-racked.

That's how I felt.

Positively, completely, and utterly nerve-racked.

I was scared too, but not the kind where you think something's going to jump out from behind a bush late at night and grab you. I'm talking about the nervous and anxious kind. Maybe dread is a more accurate adjective to describe the part of my muddy emotions that was compelling me to sit on the edge of my seat with my arms, that were now through the long sleeves of the blazer, wrapped around myself.

Let's not forget how exposed I was either. Here I was, sitting next to and in front of the two people that I had wanted to avoid at all costs. I'm sure Ranka-san spilled every horrid detail to them. The skeletons that were in my closet were now out in the open, which was the very last place I wanted them to be. Everything was out there on the table for them to see, the only question was if they would act on it.

Hunny was beside with his hands on his knees and would occasionally glance sideways at me for a split second before redirecting his eyes elsewhere. He swung his feet back and forth tirelessly.

Mori was leaning back in his seat now. His forearm was propped up on the door with his chin cupped in his hand as he stared out the window with calm eyes. He looked like he was lost in thought as he silently watched as raindrops pelted against the window

I could still hear the rain beating down against the roof of the car and for a while that was the only sound that could be heard besides my own heavy breathing. The tension and uneasiness seemed to suck most of the air from my lungs. Each intake of air was sharp and every exhale of breath was long and shaky, almost as if I was hyperventilating.

This could drive a person insane.

Just thinking about it made my fingers twitch involuntarily.

"Is your brother recovering fine?" Hunny asked as he tugged on my sleeve.

I slowly turned my head to face the blond boy and nodded. I strained to find my voice. I hadn't expected there to be conversation like this on our way to the hospital, but I was relieved he was tiptoeing around the subject that I really didn't want to discuss.

"He gets out at the end of this week," I replied in an almost inaudible squeak.

Hunny smiled widely, although it seemed a little forced, but that's just my observation. He then cast a hopeful look at his somber friend in the corner of the car. "That's great, ne Takashi?"

Mori remained stubbornly quiet.

The blond appeared to be a little crestfallen at the lack of response from his friend and tried to engage me in conversation again. "Nyo-chan, did you bake something?" His nose twitched like a small rabbit smelling out food or, in his case, sweets.

I hunched my shoulders over. "I baked snickerdoodles for my brother." I too finally noticed the aroma of the cookies wafting through the limousine.

"He likes them a lot then, ne?"

"They're his favorite." I answered stiffly with a tiny nostalgic grin. I remembered the very first time I had baked anything. I was around ten years old and Tetsushi was three. My parents finally deemed me old enough to use an oven, with parental supervision of course. The very first thing I had ever baked was a batch of crisp snickerdoodles and within a day Tetsushi had eaten all of them. At first I had been upset, but then he told me he liked them so the next day I made him more. I remember mom telling me that I would have to learn to bake something else before Tetsushi got any fatter. I think that because of me he gained five pounds in a month and became a chubby little toddler much to my mother's disdain.

"Do you like them?"

"Huh?" I gave him a puzzled expression because I didn't know what he meant by "them".

"Do you like snickerdoodles?" He clarified.

I bit my bottom lip. "Not really…"

All this beating around the bush only added to my anxiety and apprehensiveness. I would almost rather that he come out and ask about what was really on his mind instead of forcing a polite exchange of words between us.

I began wondering if it would ease the tension somewhat if we did start talking about _it_. Then maybe I wouldn't be so anxious about it. I mean, they already knew, right? So what did I have left to hide from them? They were clearly waiting for me to say something at this point. But where would I start? Where could I even begin? Did they have any intention to help me or were they feeling sorry for me?

I hate how sometimes in life you have to make a gamble like this.

Slowly, I placed my hands in my lap. My fingernails dug into the palms of my hands, but I didn't wince from the tinge of pain. I tried to sit up straight, but my shoulders remained hunched over like I was some scared little animal.

The debate whether or not to tell them was firing back and forth in my head.

Fear crept over me like dozens of black spiders crawling up my back to my neck.

Can I really trust them?

Will they even care?

Am I really this paranoid? (I don't think I want to know the answer to this one…)

Worse case scenario is that they'll do nothing, which just puts me back where I started. No loss or gain there.

Best case scenario is that they really do care and they'll help me deal with Kei, which is the greatest thing I could ever hope for.

"Nyo-chan?" Hunny gave me a worried look, his lips curved downward in a bewildered pout. "What's wrong?"

I opened my mouth to say "nothing" only to find the opposite word had come tumbling out.

"Everything."

Hunny lowered his eyelids. "Ranka-san told us-"

"-I know." I cut in hastily. My hands were shaking. "He called me and told me what had happened."

It was like standing on the tip of a needle and trying to keep my balance. I was squirming in place, desperate not to fall, but, nevertheless, waiting for the feeling of relief that came with falling off. My feelings were a complicated mess.

Muddled, everything was muddled again after taking that first step.

Regret, remission, fear, confusion…all of it was stacked on top of one another akin to an enormous totem pole.

It was too late to take back what I said though. Why did I have to open my stupid mouth?

I hate self-loathing. I absolutely, positively hate it.

I didn't want to be in this situation.

Not now, not ever.

"Nyo-chan?"

I buried my face in my hands, refusing to look Hunny eye-to-eye.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." He paused as he tilted his head to the side and stopped swinging his legs. "We're just concerned, that's all."

I turned my head towards him, my eyes peering over at him from above my fingers. "R-really?"

He nodded adamantly. "Nyo-chan, if you always worry about everyone else then you'll never have time to worry about yourself. You shouldn't worry about pleasing your parents if they don't have your best interests at heart. You shouldn't push yourself to run around in cold and rainy weather because you could get sick again. When somebody harasses you… you shouldn't keep it to yourself because you're worried about what might happen to someone if they get involved."

Every single word he said seemed to hit me like a ton of bricks. I was surprised that Hunny could even say something like that; my previous notion of him as just sweet and innocent looking had shattered and a newfound respect for him seemed to swell within me.

I could feel my eyes brimming with liquid as the thought of how all my troubles weighed me down seeped into my mind.

They _did _care and I felt like an idiot for thinking otherwise. Not only that, but they understood me.

Maybe I should be thankful that Ranka-san couldn't keep anything to himself? If it wasn't for him, this would never have been brought up.

Mori placed his hand on my head and my cheeks immediately flushed a bright scarlet hue. Perhaps he was trying to comfort me because I appeared to be on the brink of tears. I rubbed my wet eyes on the back of my hands.

"It's okay," Mori began in a somber voice with his eyes gazing intently at me, "to be a little selfish sometimes and you shouldn't be afraid to ask others for help when you need it. If you don't deal with your own problems you'll never be happy."

That just made me feel worse, but it was in a good sort of way. Their consoling words were right on the mark.

Really, I'm such an idiot to even dare think they didn't care about me. I'm an idiot to have thought that.

My heart raced as Mori gave me a small –rare- and fleeting smile. I wish my heart wouldn't do this, now wasn't the time to bring out a new unfamiliar feeling into this huge mess. Still, my cheeks remained flushed red.

Hunny managed to inadvertently direct my attention elsewhere as he sat on his knees looking out of the car window. He beamed at me as the limousine rolled to smooth stop right in front of an enormous building. "Look, Nyo-chan! We're here!" He pressed his nose up against the glass much like a small child would do at a zoo. "Can we go in to see your brother as well?"

I arched an eyebrow as I fought the blush off of my face. "Why?"

Hunny had already bounded out of the car before he could hear my question with Mori close behind him. I scrambled out of the car after them quickly. As soon as stepped onto the pavement outside the hospital I hesitated. It had finally stopped raining and there were large puddles all around me. I could hear the soft rushing of water as collected rainwater went down the gutters on he sidewalk. The sky was partly cloudy with bit and pieces of blue sky peeping out from behind white fluffs of condensed water molecules.

Hunny waved frantically at me from the doorway. "C'mon, Nyo-chan! Hurry up!"

I dropped my gaze from my surroundings to Hunny and Mori who were waiting for me at the entrance. Hunny's face held all the innocent excitement of a child while Mori simply looked over his shoulder at me with a stoic front. I couldn't help, but wonder what could possibly be going through their minds at that moment.

I splashed through some puddles carelessly as I darted over to them, half-angry and half-amused. "Why do you want to visit him anyways?"

The small senior grabbed my hand and pulled me forward jubilantly. "Takashi and I want to ask him some questions." He walked in his normal way, adding bounces and skips to his steps and beaming cheerfully ear to ear.

Warning bells sounded in my head as I followed Hunny into the building with Mori lagging only a few feet behind us.

I had an itching suspicion that neither of them would answer me truthfully if I asked them what types of questions they wanted to ask my brother. Would they ask him about Kei? That seemed only logical, but Tetsushi didn't know about that relationship…I think. Or maybe I did tell him…no, I'm sure I didn't…right?

This perpetual anxiety was getting to be too much for me to handle.

I could already foretell that all this locked up worry and dread was really going to be the death of me.

XXXXXX

Musical Inspiration- _Passion _by Utada Hikaru

Dc-chan: My life is full of distractions right now and crummy inspiration that frequently comes and goes as it pleases. So yeah, I'm extremely sorry that this took a while and that it's a short and poorly written chapter too ;A;. You can blame the movie _300_, a small nasty case of writers' block (it's still affecting me),and the game _Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Justice For All _for causing me to neglect this.

I've gotten into writing Nodoka's emotions lately, the last few chapters have been packed with them. I hope I'm not boring you to death with all of it. I promise the next chapter will be better! –is determined-

Now time for something completely different!

Reviews are always appreciated and loved. The ones for the last chapter made me deliriously happy! I love hearing what everyone has to say and it definitely has become a highlight of my day to read your reviews. I know I sound like a sap, but thank you all so much!

Peace out. :D


	17. Odd One Out

Episode 17 of Luckiest Loser

Odd One Out

I was nervous again; it was only natural that I should be. Who wouldn't be internally freaking out at this point? Hunny and Mori had just admitted that they had wanted to ask my younger brother a few questions, but I couldn't even begin to wonder what these so called questions could possibly be about. This irksome idea swam around in my thoughts as we made our way through the sterile hallways of the hospital to my brother's room. Neither of them seemed to notice that by the time my hand rested on the doorknob before entering my brother's room I was sweating bullets with a petrified expression fixed on my face.

I stood in front of the door, my heart pounding. I think scared shitless is the proper term to describe how I was feeling at that exact moment.

"Nyo-chan?" Hunny blinked innocently up at me from my side with a half-smile. "Is something wrong?" Perhaps he was thinking that I was still troubled from the uneasy conversation in the car. Was I really that transparent? I guess the obvious answer to that is a yes.

You're acting like an idiot again, I reminded myself sharply. I glanced at him and returned his smile with my own awkward grin. "Nothing's wrong. Just, you know, spacing out." I turned the doorknob and opened the door, trying to hid how tense I was although my taut jaw twitched. "Hey, Sushi-"

I froze mid-stride in the doorway and my eyes widened when I saw someone who I hadn't seen in months sitting next to Tetsushi's bed, but I fell forward when Hunny accidentally walked headfirst into my back. It was a rather painful instant when my knees, face and forearms collided with the hard floor. Oh joy, more bruises. How was I going to explain this to my mother?

The contents of my bookbag rolled out on the floor and I sat up to recollect them. I blushed when I realized Mori was squatting down next to me picking up my miscellaneous school supplies. My cheeks turned an even brighter shade of red when he handed me a stack of papers, which I unnecessarily snatched from him before thanking him in an abashed voice. "Thank you!"

"AH! NYO-CHAN! I'm so sorry!" Hunny cried as he hurried to help me up with an embarrassed look on his face and watery eyes after I had finished stuffing everything back into my bag. When I was finally back on my feet he tilted his head to one side. "But why did you stop?"

I pointed an accusing index finger across the room at a young man with bleached hair that was an unsettling shade of light orange. Hunny and Mori appeared equally confused by my action and Tetsushi stared at me from his bed like I had just grown another head. A long silence fell upon the room like a thick blanket; the only audible sound I could hear was my own throbbing temple. I guess this is the type of freeze frame that people call over dramatic, but I didn't care. My nervousness had instantly been replaced with confusion, amazement and hostility at seeing _him _here of all places.

My cousin, Mamoru, ran a hand through his bleached hair and smirked slyly at me. He had changed little in appearance since the last time I saw him. He had had bleached hair as long back as I cared to recall, his ears were adorned with gauges and piercings, and he wore the same black shirts and tight jeans. The only difference I noticed right off the bat was a vine-like black tattoo around his wrist.

Mamoru then raised a hand and waved at me. "Hey, Nooodoka." I could not help but cringe inwardly as he said my name in such a teasing manner.

"YOU! Why the heck are you here!" I shouted angrily, although I sounded more surprised than anything else, with index finger still pointing authoritatively in his direction.

He put an arm over the back of the chair and placed his fist under his chin. "I came to see my littlest cousin, of course. After I heard the terrible thing that had transpired I couldn't resist making sure Tetsushi was alright." Mamoru than raised a shifty eyebrow at me. "What's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"What are you talking about? I haven't seen you in months! You've been ditching work again, haven't you? What have you been up to? What are you-" I stopped short when I noticed everyone in the room was staring blankly at me. Slowly, I dropped my arm to my side despite still feeling extremely agitated at the sudden appearance of my cousin.

Mamoru stood up and walked over to where I was. I was anticipating him to tease me some more so I put on the sourest face I could muster only to have him brush past me as if I was another normal fixture in the room and holding out his hand to Hunny and Mori.

"Hello, I don't believe we've been introduced yet. Nodoka often forgets her manners so I'll introduce myself; I'm Mamoru Aizawa. Pleased to meet you." He smiled and said in an all too cheery tone of voice.

Hunny grinned broadly as he shook Mamoru's hand. "So you're Nyo-chan's cousin?"

Mamoru nodded as then vigorously shook Mori's hand before putting his hands on his hips. "Yep, the one and only. And by that I do literally mean that I'm their only cousin because her father's an only child and her mother and my mother are sisters. However, Nodoka and I don't usually get along so she often denies knowing me in public. It's really quite hurtful. The pain she causes me is devastating." Of course he doesn't skip a beat while talking like he's making me out to be some sort of bad guy. Ugh, this cousin of mine…

"I've never done that!" I shot back with narrowed eyes and clenched teeth.

He then preceded to pinch my cheek between his thumb and index finger as if I was some sort of cute toddler with pudgy cheeks. "Isn't she adorable when she gets worked up?"

Geez, this guy was such a pest and he knew it too. He probably lived to torment me in front of other people.

"Stop that!" I said as I tried to pull away only to find that he had a rather tight grip on my cheek and that in the action of trying to move away from him only caused it to hurt more.

He released my cheek, which was now painfully sore and red. I rubbed it gingerly as he continued talking with Hunny and Mori like I wasn't even in the room.

"You must be friends of Nodoka's, yeah? I didn't know she had any." Mamoru scratched the back of his head and chuckled vividly.

The small blond boy him a curious look. "She doesn't have any…friends?"

Mamoru shrugged in response. "None that I've met. You're the first, you lucky guys."

As Mamoru continued to humiliate me in his conversation I sulked over to my younger brother with a defeated demeanor. It seemed I was always the one to get walked all over these days. I didn't have the guts to tell my own cousin whom I had known since I was a baby to shut up. I was so tirelessly pathetic.

I opened my bookbag and took out the tupperware container that I had put the snickerdoodles in. It was then that I had noticed that some of the cookies had broken in half, which was probably a result from when I had fallen over after Hunny had walked into me. I sighed as I handed them to Tetsushi, "Like I promised, right?"

Tetsushi set the plastic container in his lap, but didn't move to open it.

I sighed heavily again. "Aren't you going to eat them?"

"In a little bit."

I dropped my voice to a hardly audible volume. "What's eating you?" It was as if some dark cloud was lingering over him and he appeared to be very deep in thought about something or other.

"I was just thinking…" he started somberly when suddenly Mamoru grabbed my by the back of my shirt collar and began tugging my across the room causing me to yelp in surprise.

"What do you think you're doing?" I protested loudly while flailing my arms around as my cousin dragged me like I was some sort of rag doll. I suppose I was making a rather childish scene, but in my defense I didn't know what the heck was going on so naturally I was being resilient.

"Your friends want to talk to Tetsushi privately, meaning they don't want you around, so I thought we could get something to drink in the meantime. I saw some vending machines in the hallway so we'll get something from there."

"Wait, no!" I grabbed onto the door frame desperately. "I'm still talking with-"

"Nodoka, it will only take a few minutes." Mori informed me in passive tone with his eyes averted away from mine. For a split second, I couldn't help but think how weird it was that even though he was speaking to me he wasn't looking at me. Wasn't someone normally supposed to look at who they're talking to? Perhaps I was reading too much into it.

Either way, those thoughts distracted me enough so that it created a window of opportunity for Mamoru to pry my fingers off of the door frame I was clinging to.

The door to my brother's hospital room shut behind me and I couldn't help, but feel helpless.

"Why the long face, Nyo-chan?" Mamoru jested as he poked the side of my head repeatedly.

"Don't…don't…"

"Don't what?"

"Don'tcallmethat." I sputtered the sentence as if it was just one long word. I wouldn't tolerate him calling me that nickname.

"Fine, I won't, but you don't seem to mind it when Hunny calls you that." Mamoru put his arm around my shoulder and began guiding me down the hallway. "Now where's that vending machine I saw earlier?"

I didn't try to escape this time because it would only be pointless.

"Ah! Here it is," Mamoru gave me a triumphant look after we rounded a corner and spied the vending machine, "want something to drink?"

I shook my head back and forth. "No, I'll pass."

"Aww, really? You sure you're not thirsty or anything?"

"No, I'm fine." I stated firmly.

"Are you posi-"

"Yes I am!"

He rolled his eyes. "You don't have to yell, I was just asking you a question."

I wanted to punch a hole in a wall. "You already asked me three times, do you honestly think the answer's going to change?"

"Correction," he lightly tapped my forehead with the back of his fist and scolded me lightheartedly, "I only asked you twice, you cut me off the third time."

"So? What difference does it make?" I scowled at him.

There was a span of silence before he started laughing like an idiot with his arms folded across his chest. "I guess it really doesn't make a difference. I just like pointing random things out and getting under your skin."

"I always knew you were out to get me…"

"Yep! You've figured out my master plan after all these years." He then turned back toward the vending machine with a goofy smile tugging on the upper corners of his lips. "So, what will it be? What drink do you want?"

I groaned and rubbed my temples. "We're back to this again?"

"C'mon, just pick something."

I bit my bottom lip. My throat felt dry. "I'll have a bottle of water."

"Idea rejected! Water is boring so you're getting a grape juice, alright?"

"You can't just decide that for me," I fumed at him.

"Too bad, I just did." He retorted with a broad smile. "I think I'll get a soda." He held out his hand to me with his eyes still fixed on the machine in front of him.

I glanced down at his empty expectant palm then back up at him suspiciously. "What?"

"Well," he said casually, "I don't have money to pay for it so I need to borrow yours."

It felt like someone had dumped a freezing cold bucket of water over my head. "Are you serious?" This is beyond ridiculous now. I was being expected to pay for our drinks yet I had no say in the decision of what beverage I was getting. This was so typical of him.

"Obviously, you should know from experience that I'm always broke. I'm almost embarrassed that you've forgotten that little tidbit about me."

I reluctantly fished my wallet out of my bookbag and handed it to Mamoru cautiously. "This grape juice better taste good."

"Sure it will. Would I ever lie to you?"

I restrained my impulse to answer a simple 'yes' to that question, merely because I wanted this whole ordeal to be over with as rapidly as possible.

After a minute or so and hearing the familiar _thud _sound after he pushed a few buttons on the right side of the vending machine I found him dangling a can of juice under my nose.

I took it from him and I took back my wallet for good measure also.

The can was cold in my hands as if it had been sitting in ice since the beginning of time. "Doesn't juice usually come in juice boxes?" I thought aloud with disdain.

"What are you, a five-year-old?" Mamoru said as he opened his can of soda before taking a brief sip from it.

"You're so annoying." I grumbled as I continued to stare at my can of grape juice as if it were breaking some unspoken law of nature. I didn't care what he said, juice belonged in juice boxes.

He took another sip from his soda and gave me an amused look, but said nothing.

My grip on the can tightened significantly as he continued to watch me with amusement gleaming in his eyes. "What now? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Oh…it's nothing really. I was just wondering where that blue jacket you're wearing came from." He smirked slyly and bent down to whisper into my ear. "Hunny was wearing one similar to that so I guess it must be part of his school uniform, but if that is the case then where's Mori's? I don't recall him wearing one when I met him." He straightened himself up and waited expectantly for the answer.

I hunched my shoulders over as my face turned red. The words stumbled out of my mouth almost incoherently. "It was raining…I got soaked…in the limo…he gave me the jacket…"

My heart was beating so fast it was hard to keep track of my own thoughts and my palms got so sweaty that the can of juice slipped from my hands. It made a resounding clunk noise as it hit the floor that echoed off the walls of the hallway. It rolled towards Mamoru's feet, but he made no movement to pick it up.

He studied me for a moment, every trace of joyfulness and mirth wiped off of his face.

"Do you like him?"

I blinked twice, "Excuse me?"

"It's a fairly simple question, Nodoka. Do you like him?"

I stared in disbelief at him. Where did his happy front go? Why was he suddenly acting so serious? I sure as heck wasn't used to Mamoru acting like this. I didn't even know he could be this deadly serious. Times like these really make you wonder how well you really do know a person in your family.

"Well?" He pressed relentlessly. "Do you?"

His line of questioning only made me blush even more. To be honest, I wasn't sure of it myself, but it was strange how every time I was around Mori I got this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. I couldn't like him though, I hardly even knew him. Sure, he was nice from what I could tell from my encounters with him, but I'm positive that's it.

"He's nice." I finally blurted out.

An uneasy tension formed between us. For some unknown reason, he seemed to appear moderately irked at what I had said.

Minutes ticked by and neither of us talked any further. I was beyond confusion now. I had never ever witnessed Mamoru like this and it was disturbing me. What could cause him to behave so? Was it something I did? Was it something I said?

I didn't have a lot of time to think about it because the next thing I knew Hunny was tugging at my arm.

The atmosphere shifted and Mamoru started to smile again is if nothing out of the ordinary had transpired.

"Are you guys done talking with Tetsushi?" Mamoru asked.

Hunny bobbed his head up and down as he hugged my arm. "Yep," he then turned his attention towards me, "you little brother is really nice and he cares about you a whole lot." He looked over at his shoulder at Mori, "Sushi-chan worries about his sister a lot, ne?"

Mori answered with a strict nod. His gigantic stature made Hunny and I look like little ants in comparison as he stood behind us with his hands in his pockets.

"What did you guys talk about?" I asked thinking that maybe they'd tell me now.

"It's a secret." Hunny chimed as he wiggled excitedly.

If it's such a big secret then why are you acting like it's nothing important? I kept that to myself because I know it was only because I was feeling bothered that I thought something as rude as that.

"You're going to see your brother now, ne?" Hunny asked as he let go of me.

"Yeah," I said shakily. It occurred to me that I was being left in the dark about so many things. I wanted to know what was going on so badly. I wanted to know what Hunny and Mori talked to my brother about. I wanted to know the reason behind Mamoru's odd behavior.

Hunny and Mori waved goodbye as they left leaving me alone with my cousin again, but we both remained silent in their absence. Mamoru's face dropped and he was frowning again. He then walked away without saying another word to me like I had somehow victimized him.

There was clearly something that the three of them weren't telling me though I'm sure whatever was pestering Mamoru was different from the two seniors. Maybe I did something insensitive? Hell, I didn't know.

However, I was able to deduce something from all of this.

All three of them were hiding something from me.

XXXXXX 

Musical Inspiration-_Top Of The World_ by The All-American Rejects

Dc-chan: I have trouble keeping track of my review replies because I tend to do them out of order (I'm just weird like that), but I'm trying to get to everyone. Thank you all for the much needed self-esteem boost; I'll try not to freak out about trivial things again.

Geez, I can't believe I've been working on this for almost five months. Boy, time sure does fly. I hate getting older. D:

Please review, review, review, etc.

Peace out.


	18. Vexatious

This is just a short chapter to tie you guys over until I have more time to write the next chapter.

ENJOY!

**XXXXXX**

Episode 18 of Luckiest Loser

Vexatious

"You little creep!"

"I said I was sorry!"

"Not as sorry as you're going to be when I get my hands on you."

My brother dodged my outstretched arms and slid under the kitchen table before dashing out of the kitchen with a terrified look on his face.

He had only been back from the hospital for a week and he had already succeeded in agitating me beyond any previous offenses he had committed against me. Albeit, this one was just an accident, but I wastill terribly pissed off about it. It had only been a few moments ago that the little twerp had spilled juice all over the front of my shirt this morning while we were having breakfast. The feeling of having a sweetened and sticky substance on my shirt was not the least bit pleasant.

I looked over my shoulder and spied him peeking around the doorway that led into the kitchen with fearful eyes. I winced inwardly. Wasn't I supposed to be trying to be a better older sister to him? Now here I was biting his head off over a stupid little incident.

Yeah, I was the sister of the year for sure.

It took me a good full minute to finally simmer down, but I was still unintentionally glaring in his direction.

"I said I didn't mean to do it!" He repeated now scowling at me.

I scratched the back of my head and sat back down in my seat before exhaling loudly. "I know."

"Then why'd you get so upset?" Tetsushi paused and bit his bottom lip. "You have a lot on your mind don't you?"

I didn't answer because there wasn't a need to. He could probably tell by my silence that there was indeed a lot on my mind, once again he had hit the mark. The past few weeks had just been an emotional roller coaster for me and the fact that things were somewhat returning to normal was surprisingly hard to adjust to with so many things on my mind.

My brother sat down in the chair next to me quietly with a thoughtful look on his face. "Is it because you saw Mamoru for the first time in ages or is those two seniors, Hunny and Mori?"

"A little of both," I replied simply. Mamoru's odd behavior was certainly confusing; I had never seen him act so moody before in my life. And those two seniors…they had spoken to Tetsushi about something, but I still had no clue what their conversation had been about. I had tried to pry some clues from my little brother, but he kept his mouth firmly shut on the subject and refused to answer any of my inquiries. In addition to that, this week of undisturbed peacefulness had allowed me ample time to think more deeply about certain things…

…like Mori.

Why did I nearly freeze up when Mamoru had asked me if I liked him?

That was the million-dollar question that had been bothering me.

I barely knew Mori outside of the few interactions that we had together and usually Hunny was with us. There had been that one time when he had pinned me against a wall and asked me about the stitches on my eyebrow when we were alone in the hallway. I remember blushing vividly before pushing him away.

Come to think of it, I tended to blush a lot around him.

Hmmm.

"Nodoka, you're drooling." My little brother noted blandly with a deadpan face.

"WHAT?" I wiped the corners of my mouth, but I immediately stopped when I noticed that my brother was laughing hysterically at me and pounding his fists on the table.

"You're. Such. An. Idiot." He said between gasps of air.

I fought the urge to take the nearest blunt object, which would be the half-eaten bowl of rice in front of me, and smack him upside the head with it. But that wouldn't be very sisterly of me now would it?

Our _lovely_ moment of sibling bonding was suddenly interrupted when my sister entered the kitchen with a piece of blue fabric in her arms that I was quickly able to deduce that it was a some sort of article of clothing. The color looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.

"Do either of you know who this blazer belongs too? It's far too big to be Dad's." Osen said as she held it up so Tetsushi and I could see it better. "I was folding the laundry and I honestly don't know where this came from."

"Beats me." My brother and I mumbled in unison before exchanging puzzled looks.

"Really?" My sister pouted as she examined the blazer in her hands.

"Oh, I know!" Tetsushi exclaimed loudly while standing up in his chair with a triumphant air in his voice and his hands on his hips. "That looks like what that tall friend of yours wears, Nodoka."

"It does?" I tilted my head. I wasn't really the type of person to notice something like the clothes someone was wearing.

"You mean that tall good looking boy who carried Nodoka home when she had a fever?" Osen said with a slight giggle in her voice. "Now that you mention it…it does look like it would fit him." She then stared across the room at me, "But why is this here?"

I slumped my shoulders over in embarrassment. "I got soaked in the rain on the way to the hospital to see Tetsushi so he gave me his jacket."

"That's so adorable!" Osen cried in a manner similar to an annoying hyperactive fan girl.

"Not really…" I muttered under my breath, "he was just being nice."

Yes, it was just an act out of courtesy and nothing more. There was no point in reading too much into it.

"He must be really, really nice then," Osen said slyly. "You should return it soon though, it looks like its part of his school uniform. Anyway, not many boys I know would lend their jacket to just anyone so he must think _something_ of you," my sister mused with a pretty smile.

I got to my feet and snatched it away from my sister as I began to feel the heat rise to my face in response to her words. Osen and Tetsushi began chuckling at how flustered I appeared by now. I didn't see what was so funny about the situation though.

"Both of you shut up!" I yelled as I stomped out of the kitchen, clutching the blue blazer to my chest with a visible dark red tint on my cheeks and my heart pounding.

Tch, siblings.

* * *

I knocked on the door to Haruhi's apartment and waited for either her or Ranka-san to answer the door while hugging Mori's blazer against my chest in anticipation. Seconds ticked by slowly and soon minutes passed. I knocked again, this time a little louder. Maybe they were still asleep? I glanced at my watch and sweatdropped when I saw that it was well past noon. Haruhi was probably out of the apartment by now, which meant that Ranka-san was there…most likely with a sever hangover.

Deducing that it was only likely that Ranka-san was home right now I decided to bang on the door and yell loudly. "Wake up you filthy, kidnapping, crossdressing weirdo!"

The door slowly creaked open.

"Good morning, Ranka-OH MY GOD! What happened to you?" My eyes nearly bulged out of my skull at the sight of seeing a man with disheveled hair in a ponytail and beard stubble answer the door. Seeing a crossdresser without their makeup on certainly not an easy sight on the eyes. "I'm sorry," I bowed my head and began to walk away, "I'll come back later when you're awake."

He quickly grabbed me by my shoulder and dragged me inside the apartment. "Who's a filthy, kidnapping, crossdressing weirdo?"

"I didn't mean it," I fired back rather indifferently. It's surprising what kind of manhandling treatment you get used to. Being dragged around by Ranka-san and carried around by Mori like a sack of flour had definitely lost its annoyance factor long ago.

He ran a hand through his unkempt hair as he set me down by the small coffee table in the apartment. He took the seat across from me and sat cross-legged with his arms folded across his chest. "So what brings you here? Are you mad at me for telling Mori and Hunny about-"

"Actually," I said cutting him off in hopes of avoiding _that _topic altogether, "I was wondering if Haruhi could return this to Mori for me." I set the blue blazer down on the table for him to see.

"Oh, I see. You want to burden my daughter with what should be your responsibility." He put his chin in the palm of his hand and raised an eyebrow at me accusingly

"Well, no…" I said shakily, unsure if he was just toying with me like he usually did. "It's just Haruhi goes to school with him and I thought it would be easier to give it back to him that way."

"How about I give you his address instead so you can return it yourself?" Ranka-san suggested with a kittenish smile that looked rather frightening on him considering the fact that he looked like a homeless bum at the moment and not his usual glamour self that I had grown accustomed to over the years. "After all, it would be very rude of you to inconvenience my daughter like that after all the trouble she's going through to help you with your studies."

I twitched. I didn't like where this was going.

"Stay still," Ranka-san ordered as he stood up, "I'll get his address for you."

"It really isn't necessary, Ran-"

"Here!" He shoved a piece of paper into my hands that had his messy handwriting on it.

I glanced down at the paper and gulped loudly; there was an address on it right under the name Morinozuka, Takashi.

I blinked twice as I looked over the written name.

Takashi Morinozuka? So that was his full name not that I had ever really wondered about it, but it was just strange to me to find things out like this.

It had never really occurred to me that Mori was his nickname and that it was derived from his last name. Then again, I did recall Hunny calling him Takashi. For some reason, I liked the sound of Takashi better than Mori. It just seemed to suit him better.

"Do you think you can get there on your own?" Ranka-san asked me while smugly rubbing his hands together as if he was some evil villain and I was his unfortunate victim.

"It's kind of far…" I said glumly finally realizing that Ranka-san's intention all along was to make me go to his house and return it myself. In all honesty, the prospect of going to his house to return the his blazer made me feel sick to my stomach. Not the bad kind of being sick to the stomach though, the nervous and uneasy kind you get when you're about to speak in front of a room full of people.

Before I knew it, Ranka-san had shoved the blue blazer back into my arms and was pushing me out of the front door, "Good luck, Nodoka-chan!" With that he closed the door, leaving me alone in front of his apartment with a baffled experssion.

I sighed noisily and hunched my shoulders over. I clutched the piece of paper in my hand that had my destination written on it and began walking. Hopefully there would be a bus that would take me most of the way there because I was not in the mood to walk a couple miles through the city.

**XXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- The soundtrack for _Wicked_ (I'm currently obsessed with it)

Dc-chan: Past 200 reviews already? That's seriously AWESOME. I wasn't expecting that many people to like this, but I suppose I was wrong (the amount of people who've put this story on their alert and favorite lists is pretty darn awesome too). Thanks for all the support and encouragement. Now that college applications are _almost _done I feel less stressed out so that's good.

Review??

Peace out. XD


	19. Awareness

COLLEGE APPLICATIONS ARE DONE! FREEDOM! MY SOUL HATH RETURNED TO ME!

I'm terribly sorry about the long wait between updates. I had trouble writing Mori's brother, Satoshi, so hence this late update. DX

On a lighter note, it's winter break for me now so I have a lot of free time on my hands (perhaps too much?). Hopefully, I'll be able to churn out one or two more chapters before I go back to school in January.

**XXXXXX**

Episode 19 of Luckiest Loser

Awareness

Cramped public places are terribly uncomfortable. Especially when you're trapped on a bus with no way out other than to jump to your death. It's also pretty bad when you're prone to motion sickness. The constant swaying and rocking of the bus nearly made me loose my breakfast several times.

I heaved a sigh as I began to smooth the crinkles out of the blue blazer that was folded neatly into a square on my small lap. I sat squished between an old and rather obese woman with a hooked nose and a businessman, I assumed, due to the fact that he was busily typing away on his laptop and not paying attention to the clearly disgruntled teenager sitting next to him, me.

I had almost left my house without changing my shirt. Imagine my abashment when I had realized I had gone to Haruhi's apartment and that Ranka-san had seen me in that ruined shirt, courtesy of my brother's split beverage, and a pair of baggy sweatpants. Yeah, I was _brilliant _at times. I didn't blame myself though. I was in such a hurry to get away from Osen and Tetsushi that it had merely slipped my mind. But now I had on a fresh orange shirt and pair of jeans so I felt much cleaner and tidier now.

Still, I was nervous.

Very nervous.

So nervous I thought I was going to puke what little food I had had for breakfast on one of the unfortunate passengers that I was sandwiched inbetween without the aid of my motion sickness.

I suppose this was nothing unusual though. After all, I was going to a boy's house so there was a perfectly legitimate reason to be anxious like this. However, this wasn't just any boy's house I was going to. It was _his_ house, Mori's to be more specific, and that thought was driving me insane right now.

Calm down, I told myself, all you're doing is returning his jacket. It's not like you're staying over there for dinner or something. As much as I tried to convince myself of that I was still uneasy. Butterflies were now ricocheting around in my stomach like there were being fired out of shotguns and my cheeks had turned red.

I buried my face in my hands to hide my expression from the other passengers. What was wrong with me?

Every time I thought of him I turned into a puddle of helpless goo.

Is this strange feeling that I have burning inside me what people call…a crush?

"It can't be…" I whispered to myself quietly, earning a curious and wary glance from the old woman next to me and a disapproving grunt from the businessman. Then again, I've always been told denial is an ugly thing and it's usually the first sign of not being aware of your own feelings.

The more I thought about it though, the more it made sense to me.

These strange feelings were far beyond anything I had had for Kei so maybe that's why I didn't recognize them at first. Kei had been an abusive bastard so, obviously, any romantic feelings I thought I had for him were squashed right away.

Kei aside, this new budding feeling inside of me was enough to make my face redden whenever my thoughts strayed to it.

Oh man. I had it bad, didn't I?

Don't think about that right now, I scowled at myself, you'll just all worked up then chicken out. Just focus on tackling one thing at time, you can do it. The first thing you have to do is get to his house in one piece.

I had committed the address Ranka-san had given me to memory so, in order to pass the time on this painful bus ride, I began reciting the directions under my breath just as a precaution so I wouldn't forget it. Also, preoccupying my mind with this would keep me from thinking about my newfound revelation and awareness of my feelings while on this nightmarish bus ride.

However, as my luck would have it, as soon as I got off the bus at my stop, my memory blanked. I couldn't even remember the correct street numbers anymore or what letter the street name began with. The bus sped away and I was left standing on the paved sidewalk with a huge question mark hanging over my head.

Minutes went by and my feet were rooted to spot. I had no idea what to do now. What could I do? I didn't know anyone in this area that I could call for help.

I leaned my back against the bus stop and started scolding myself mentally. Why didn't I bring that stupid piece of paper Ranka-san had given me?

I was about to slide down to the ground in despair when my ominous thoughts were cut off unexpectedly.

"Ah, Nyo-chan! What are you doing out here by yourself?" I recognized that saccharine voice immediately.

"Hunny?" I whirled around to see the energetic boy standing behind me with his hands buried in his pockets. I'm saved! "What are you doing here?" I fought my urge to cling to him like a lost little child. Even I had the presence of mind to act more dignified than that.

"I asked you first," Hunny pouted.

"Oh…well, you see I'm here to return Mori's blazer. I kind of forgot that I still had it at my house until my sister found it in the wash this morning."

"The one he lent to you on the car ride to the hospital?"

"That's the one." I held it up for him to see.

Hunny raised his eyebrows. "Do you know where he lives? You seem kind of out of place right now."

I lowered my head in shame. "Ranka-san gave me a slip of paper with the address on it and I thought I had it memorized…" I didn't finish the sentence, I felt too pathetic and annoyed at myself.

"I can walk you there if you want," he suggested in a concerned manner. "I don't want Nyo-chan to get lost."

I gazed at him optimistically. "That would be really, really helpful!"

Hunny's face brightened up. "Just follow me then, Nyo-chan." He guided me along the sidewalk and I shadowed his footsteps as wave after wave of relief washed over me.

If I hadn't bumped into him then surely this day would've been miserable. I was so grateful that Hunny had also conveniently been out walking in the same area I was lost in. I had to admit though, it seemed a bit suspicious that he would be in the same place as me around the same time.

Perhaps Ranka-san had…no, even he couldn't plan something out like this or have anticipated that I would forget the address. However, I did have my lingering suspicions. Ranka-san was always usually up to something when it involved me.

I didn't dwell on those thoughts though for too long. Usually when my thoughts were centered on Ranka-san my head ended up hurting so I dropped it.

But then that left me with only one other person to think about and whenever I thought about him I would flush uncontrollably.

I pursed my lips together thoughtfully, "Hunny, can I ask you something?"

He bobbed his head up and down eagerly like a toddler. I have to admit, for an eighteen-year-old, he was downright adorable.

"This is a hypothetical question though, got it?" I paused as I tried to figure out a way to phrase my question without being too obvious. "If someone liked someone they didn't really know that well would that make them shallow?"

Hunny smiled at me in a way that was so I cute it should have been illegal. "This is supposed to be hypothetical, ne?"

I nodded while sweating bullets. I had a feeling he could easily see through my awkward question.

"Well," he began as he drummed his fingertips against his chin, "I wouldn't exactly call it shallow. Are there any personality traits that this _someone _likes about the other person?"

I chewed on my bottom lip for a minute and looked down at my sneakers. "Yeah…"

"Like what?" Hunny pressed in a sugar filled tone of voice that clearly implied he was trying to weasel information out of me.

I was too preoccupied with my own mixed thoughts to remember we were supposed to be speaking hypothetically. Perhaps it would be best for me to speak openly and honestly yet without completely revealing who was the topic of our conservation. Then again, Hunny probably had an inkling who I was talking about already judging from the slightly coy expression on his innocent face. For some reason, most of the people that I was around these days were able to read me like an open book, which was starting to make me feel like I wasn't able to keep to keep things to myself anymore.

"He's really nice," I said mindfully as I recalled past experiences with him, "and he seems to worry about people too." I decided to keep it short and simple. Too much information would make it more dreadfully obvious than it already was.

Hunny had probably already caught on by this point, but he did a good job playing along with my "hypothetical" situation.

"Is there anything else that this person likes about them?"

"Yes, but it's hard to describe what these other things are exactly." I almost felt like sitting down on the sidewalk with my head hung low in exasperation, but instead I let out a long exhale of breath. "I don't know what to do," I grumbled gloomily.

"Just try your best."

I blinked. "Erm, what?" Did I hear him correctly?

Oh yes, it was clearer than day now. Hunny knew. He could see through me as if I was as transparent as a ghost. So much for "hypothetical".

"Ah, here we are!" Hunny declared gleefully as he came to a stop before looking over his shoulder at me with his large brown eyes. "You came here to see Takashi, ne?"

"Only to return his jacket…" I rambled off with a twinge of discomfort in my voice. I directed my eyes towards the monstrously huge mansion in front of us and my jaw nearly fell to the pavement from pure shock. "No way…he lives here." I didn't mean to blurt that out as loudly as I had, but under these circumstances where I was too much in astonishment to have much self-control I decided it was best to let it go.

I don't think I had ever seen anything so overwhelming in my life and I began feeling as though I had come under dressed.

It wasn't like those extravagant European mansions that were commonly shown on television and in movies. It was far more conventional and clearly modeled architecture from Japan's earlier time periods. I wasn't exactly a history expert though, but the mansion's design reminded me of the type of houses that the feudal lords in Japan occupied years ago.

I began scanning the rows of mansions on the street with wonder. This was almost too extraordinary to be real. I couldn't believe there were houses this big in Japan when my own family had been living in a small compact two floor house. This was beyond anything I could've imagined. It was no wonder Haruhi referred to these guys as "rich bastards".

I felt Hunny grab my hand and tow me towards the entrance. I curiously followed him with an intrigued, but intimidated disposition. The nervous butterflies came back and my hand trembled in Hunny's grasp.

Maybe this was a bad idea after all.

As soon as Hunny knocked on the front door with an energetic rap of his knuckles –geez, even his knock sounded cute- I felt my stomach do a somersault.

A minute went by and I heard the faint footsteps of someone running towards the door from the other side. Hunny remained at my side, still holding my hand with that trademark smile of his on his lips as we waited. I unintentionally squeezed his hand.

"Nyo-chan, don't worry. It'll be fine, okay?" Hunny tried to assure me calmly. "I'll be here with you."

Before I could respond any words of gratitude for his kind words the front door was swung wide open and I found myself staring at a young teenage boy who seemed like a smaller version of Mori. However, this boy seemed to be a lot more expressive then his older counterpart due to the fact that he was almost nearly beside himself when he caught sight of Hunny.

"Ah, Mitsukuni! I didn't know Taka was expecting you." The young black haired teenage boy said enthusiastically while he bowed curtly to Hunny.

Mitsukuni? I tilted my head to the side a bit. I think I recalled Mori calling Hunny that once or twice, but I wasn't sure. I could only deduce that that must be Hunny's real name. Why was I only finding these things out now?

"Oh, I was just seeing a friend off because she lost her way over here," Hunny supplied casually as he gestured towards me.

The boy looked me up and down with a confused look on his face while retaining a lively smile. "And she is…"

"Sugiyama, Nodoka." I said abruptly before Hunny could get a chance to introduce me.

Hunny didn't seem to mind my brashness though and gave me an understanding nod. "She's friends with your brother and is here to return his school uniform. Takashi lent it to her because she got soaked in the rain."

"Really?" The teenager seemed to now be stricken with awe by Hunny's words. "Taka is so chivalrous and kind. I swear he must be the last samurai in all of Japan!"

"How do those things make him a samurai?" I asked with a blank expression while a bead of sweat dripped down the side of my forehead.

"Well, it's only something I've been thinking about recently," the boy began as he cupped his chin in his hand thoughtfully with a bright gleam glowing in his eyes. "Just think about it, his strength and kindness are virtually unequaled. He's solemn and doesn't say much, but he's not in the least bit arrogant. My brother's the pride of the Morinozuka family."

"Your brother…so, you're Mori's younger brother then?" No wonder the two resembled each other so much physically, personality wise it was a different story. I wanted to smack myself on the side of my head for not realizing their relationship sooner. Was I really that dumb to not have realized that this boy standing in front of me was Mori's brother? Some questions are better left unanswered…

"Correct!" he gave me the thumbs up with a wide grin. "Isn't Taka amazing?"

A faint blush spread across my cheeks and my fingers dug into the fabric of the blazer in my arms. Lucky for me though, Hunny saved me the trouble of replying to the question.

"Is he home? Nyo-chan needs to return his school jacket." Hunny asked with a sugary voice.

"Oh yeah, he's back in the dojo practicing. I'll take you to him if you want," he offered as his gaze shifted back and forth between Hunny and myself.

"That would be great." I beamed at him before bowing in gratitude. Finally, this day could soon come to an end!

"Mitsukuni, are you going to come?" He asked the small blond boy standing next to me.

Hunny shook his head before glancing sideways at me. "I'm sorry, but I have some matters to attend to. I only came because Nyo-chan needed an escort, but say 'hi' to him for me, ne?"

"Yes, of course." The boy's head drooped a little bit in disappointment.

I felt Hunny tug on the sleeve of my shirt to get my attention before he whispered softly in my ear. "Don't worry, you'll be fine Nyo-chan." His small words of reassurance made the pink blush on my cheeks turn a dark shade of crimson. He candidly smiled knowingly in return to my body's involuntary reaction, but it wasn't his normal playful smile that I was accustomed to. It was one that was as if he was trying to tell me without words to be more confident in myself.

"I'll be fine…" I trailed off in a shaky voice as Hunny let go of my sleeve.

He instantaneously returned to his usual irresistibly cute demeanor. "I'll see you later, Nyo-chan." Hunny then exchanged good-byes with Mori's brother before happily walking away with a small skip in his step.

The boy held the door open for me and waited until I entered before closing it behind me.

"This way, Nodoka-san." He beckoned me warmheartedly although I couldn't help but inwardly cringe at the honorable suffix he added at the end of my name.

I kept my eyes locked on the carpet floor beneath my feet so I wouldn't mindlessly gape at my surroundings, which I knew would only serve to distract me. I already felt enough out of place as it was.

"I'm sorry, I don't know your name yet," I inquired offhandedly as I tried to keep up with his fast paced stride. I was already breathing heavily and my lungs burned and ached for oxygen.

"It's Satoshi," he responded with a happy lilt in his tone. He definitely seemed like a cheerful person so perhaps there was nothing for me to worry about just like Hunny had suggested few a few minutes ago. However, I had an inkling that he hadn't been referring to me being worried in front of Satoshi, but rather Mori.

"By the way, what does you brother practice…in the dojo?" I asked, desperately trying to make polite conversation as we continued to walk down a long lavish hallway.

"Kendo. Taka is Japan's national kendo champion." He replied in a prideful tone.

I nearly tripped over my own feet in disbelief, but I was fortunate to catch my balance before falling face first on the floor and save myself from a huge embarrassment. "Really?"

It seemed pleasantly strange to me that I was suddenly learning all these new things about Mori. Prior to today, I had no clue that he had a younger brother or practiced kendo. My mind slowly began to wander as I began to think about all the other things I didn't know about him.

"Ah, here we are!" Satoshi cried triumphantly as he stopped in front of me, which inadvertently caused me to walk right into his back because I hadn't been paying attention.

I rubbed my sore nose as he looked over his shoulder sympathetically at me. "Sorry about that." I apologized pitifully.

"It's alright, it's partially my fault for stopping so suddenly. Besides, we're here anyway." He pointed his index finger in front of him. "Welcome to the Morinozuka family dojo, Nodoka-san."

I sidestepped around him in order to get a good look at what he was pointing at with so much fervency. My eyes widened as big as tea saucers when I saw that there was an open door frame, which led out to traditional Japanese styled dojo that had a large empty area in front of it that I presumed was used for training space. The dojo was made entirely of wood and I could see beautiful elegant scrolls hanging from the walls inside of it. The smell of tatami from the floor of the dojo wafted through the air around me.

"He should be around here somewhere," Satoshi murmured as he glanced around our surroundings.

I inclined my head forward. "I'll find him, thank you for your help."

"Don't mention it," Satoshi said as he scratched the back of his head with a wide grin. "If you need any more help, just ask."

I half-smiled, I was beginning to feel better about this whole ordeal Ranka-san had condemned me to. "Thank you."

I watched Satoshi's back as he left until he disappeared around a bend in the hallway before sighing deeply. This wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it was going to be. Maybe, I was all worked up over nothing as was in my nature to do so.

I made my way across the empty training area feeling somewhat alleviated for the first time in days. This was going to be fine. All I had to do was simply hand Mori his blazer back and leave, there was no way that this could get complicated or take a turn for the worse. I had simply been making a mountain out of a molehill.

Sure, earlier today I had made the revelation that I had a slight crush on him, but I couldn't let something silly like that get in the way of me returning his blazer. Perhaps this was what Hunny was speaking about when he said it would be fine. Hunny did seem to have a way of seeing through my insecurities after all.

I entered the dojo, hoping that Mori would be somewhere inside. "Mori?" I called faintly, not wanting to disturb the quietness that engulfed the building. I looked to my right and saw a bamboo sword leaning against a wall near a rice-papered sliding door.

I slid the door open with my free hand after I put the blazer under my other arm. "Mori?" I was about to step into the room, but I stiffened up like a mannequin as my gray eyes locked onto a pair of dark eyes. It suddenly felt like fire, instead of blood, was running through my veins. My face took on a deep magenta hue before paling whiter than a ghost's complexion as it slowly dawned on me what I was seeing in front of me.

Mori looked at me with surprised eyes. His arms were frozen in place at his sides, letting the top of his kendo uniform slip off of his shoulders while he faced the sliding door, which in turn gave me a straight on view of his bare and well defined torso.

**XXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _Season's Call _by Hyde

Dc-chan: Ah, she's finally realizing her feelings. It's about time too. ALAS, THE TRUE ROMANCE BEGINS! -Or does it?

Now that college applications are over there's really no reason that I shouldn't update more regularly other than my natural tendency towards laziness, which was another hindrance to the completion of this chapter besides my Satoshi issue.

A small side note, in response to some reviews, there are a few specific reasons why Nodoka's parents, particularly her mother, are hard on her. I plan to reveal the other reasons as the story progresses…if I can get around to all of them.

Happy holidays. Thanks for all the awesome reviews!

Peace out.


	20. Your Hand

Chapter 20 of Luckiest Loser

Quick note: I made a slight change to the ending of the previous chapter. A huge thanks to Kamikishiro for pointing out my mistake regarding Mori's kendo uniform.

**XXXXXX**

Episode 20 of Luckiest Loser

Your Hand

Oh dear.

It was almost strange how those two words were the first thing that came to my mind. Something more along the lines of 'oh shit' seemed more appropriate under these circumstances, but maybe the burning desire to bang my own head against a nearby wall as punishment for my stupidity was overriding my usual habit of swearing.

Yes, that had to be it. There was no other logical explanation to explain this weird phenomenon I was experiencing.

Oh dear.

I'm unbelievably stupid.

My mother had repeatedly instilled the value of knocking on a door before entering since I was a child. Why had I now just forgotten such an obvious gesture of common courtesy? Surely, if my mother ever found out about this, it would even more tightly procure my role as the shameful child in the family. Oh, I always knew how to make her so proud of me.

He stood there, still as a statue, with a look of surprise that didn't seem to fit his normally stoic face. His dark eyes were intently locked onto mine and neither of us made any effort to even glance away from the other.

What made this terrible situation even worse for me was the sheer fact that he didn't look half-bad.

My eyes were wide and I had somewhat of a horror struck expression on my face. However, it wasn't long before a dark red blush spread across my cheeks and I was consumed with overwhelming embarrassment. I secretly wished that my face wasn't as bright as it felt.

The fabric of the blue blazer slipped through my trembling fingers and fell into a little lump on the floor as I raised my hands to my face in order to hide my rosy red cheeks from view.

Slowly, after a sharp intake of breath, I took a few shaky steps backward. I bit my bottom lip as I cautiously backpedaled away from the scene of my 'crime'.

Back away, I told myself, back away and create some distance.

"I-I'm sorry…" I squeaked in a weak and almost inaudible voice. I felt like a blabbering fool. "I didn't mean…I wasn't thinking-"

My words were cut off as I inadvertently stumbled over my own two feet and fell back on my rear end, which was somewhat painful. I could be absolutely pitiful at times. My natural inclinations towards being a total klutz seemed to have a knack for kicking in at exactly the wrong moments.

Mori seemed to be the first of us to properly come back to his senses and he wiped the damp sweat off of his forehead before turning away from me. He pulled his uniform back over his shoulders, retied the obi around his waist, and refolded the fabric over his chest in a manner of seconds.

I stayed frozen on the floor, too paralyzed by my own idiocy to budge an inch. Though my body was stiff, my mind was still quite active. My train of thoughts wandered over to what Mori could possibly thinking at a time like this.

Was he as embarrassed as I?

He had seemed rather taken back by seeing me, then again, what teenage boy wouldn't be momentarily stunned when a member of the opposite sex walked in on them changing?

Could he possibly be annoyed at me for my sudden intrusion?

He sure was spending a lot of time staring at the blank wall across from him right now with his hands still clutching onto either end of the knotted obi around his waist.

Was he mad at me?

I stared at his back as unease grew in the pit of my stomach.

I wanted to apologize again, but the words were stuck in my throat. I couldn't even manage to choke out a tiny little whisper or utter a sound.

All I could do was wait for him to break the tense silence. That was highly unlikely though considering that he wasn't exactly the talkative type. At this rate I was doomed to be a mute forever.

Finally, he turned around. I jumped a little in surprise since I hadn't expected him to do so. Without a word he picked his blazer up off of the floor and instantaneously a flash of recognition of what the item of clothing was glinted in his dark eyes briefly.

I laughed pathetically, the serious mood between us was making me uncomfortable and i finally found my voice. "Surprise." Haha. I'm _so_ funny. I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. "You...you aren't mad at me for suddenly dropping in on you like this, are you?"

"No," he answered without skipping a beat. Mori then tucked the blazer under one of his arms before stalking towards me slowly. He then bent down at the waist and offered me one of his hands while sporting a gentler expression on his face.

My face flushed as I recalled a similar situation like this that occurred a few weeks ago when I had bumped into him while searching frantically for my brother. The only difference between then and now was that I was aware of my feelings, which made me more reluctant to take his hand.

However, it had been drilled into me for years not to refuse small acts of kindness from others no matter what the circumstances were. I seldom followed that rule of thumb though, but after taking into consideration that this was Mori, as opposed to someone like on of the Twins, I didn't want to offend him by having him think that I was ungrateful.

I reached up and took his hand. His fingers grasped mine securely before he tentatively yanked me onto my feet. I mumbled a polite "thank you" after I expertly slipped my hand out of his grasp.

For a few minutes both of us were silent.

My hand that he had held onto for that brief moment was now frighteningly warm.

I decided to supply him with a hasty explanation for my presence in an effort to diffuse the awkwardness. It was the least I could do. I gestured to the blazer in his hands.

"I was planning on giving it to Haruhi so she could return it to you for me, but _someone_ didn't exactly find that plan too enticing."

"Wouldn't that have been less troublesome for you?" Mori inquired in an impassive tone.

"Ah, yes." I nodded then bowed my head, dropping my gaze away from his. "But Ranka-san insisted that I do it or else I'd be burdening his daughter with something that is my responsibility. You lent it to me so I guess that it's only right that I be the one to return it to you." It's almost sad to admit, but in a way Ranka-san had me whipped. I kept that little tidbit to myself though because I was afraid I'd lose what little dignity I had if such a thing became public knowledge.

Mori sighed inwardly as he pushed back my bangs with his hand. "It's healing well."

"Eh?" I blinked in confusion and straightened up. "What is?"

"This." Mori said simply as his index and middle finger lightly traced the scar above my eyebrow. I involuntary shuddered at the faint feel of his fingers against my still slightly bruised and sensitive skin.

"I suppose it is," I replied with the heave of a shoulder as I forced a crooked smile. I hadn't really paid much attention to the scar for a long while. My mind had been occupied with other things, distracting things. It had almost completely disappeared from view by now. The only indicator that there had been an injury there in the first place was that the skin in that area was a light fleshy pink color with some slight discoloration around it.

It was right at that moment that I realized that his fingers were still lightly touching my scar and that he hadn't made any effort to put his hand down or move it away from my face.

I stiffened. "Mori..." I rolled my teeth over my bottom lip in an anxious manner.

He recoiled his hand and clenched it into a fist as he dropped it by his side. "Aa, sorry."

I tucked some strands of hair behind of ear anxiously. "It's alright." I replied softly as I miserably tried to hide my abashment, which was exceedingly difficult for me right now.

Mori took a step towards me. "Are you catching another cold? Your face is-"

I nearly fell backwards again in an attempt to evade his hand that was reaching towards my forehead. "I'm not sick, I'm the picture perfect image of ideal health right now!" I said quickly in hopes of reassuring him that I was indeed not ill at the moment and hopefully deterring him from checking to see if my forehead was warm. I was certain it was though because I could feel the blood rushing to my face.

I needed to escape before I made an even bigger idiot out of myself.

I began walking backwards towards the entrance of the dojo while a bead of sweat slide down my temple. "Well, umm...I'll see you later then, Mori. Take care." I bowed politely before sharply turning around on my heel then began dashing away from the dojo as if some crazed person was chasing me with a machete. Upon recalling this event later, I realized that running away was probably the worst and dumbest thing I could've done. I was in dire need of some impulse control and rationality.

I nearly crashed into Satoshi, but luckily he pressed himself up against a wall when he saw me coming to avoid getting plowed over by me. Smart kid.

The cold rush of air hit me like a brick wall as I found myself standing in front of the mansion and panting to catch my breath. I could feel little globules of perspiration covering the back of my neck and my cheeks. I breathed the fresh air in and out rhythmically as I calmed myself down.

At least I was out of there for now before any more chances to humiliate myself presented themselves. However, I had a strong inkling that that wouldn't be the last time I would step foot into the Morinozuka mansion.

I'm stupid.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid...

I sat cross-legged on my bed while squeezing the life out of my poor stuffed animal, Kitsune. I had the poor toy squished up against my chest and I had buried my face in its synthetic fur. My body was trembling as Kitsune's fur tickled my nose, almost tempting me to sneeze on a few occasions.

My heart wouldn't stop palpitating and my face felt hot. Was it normal to feel this way when you have a crush? I was starting to feel like a flustered lunatic. I dramatically dropped Kitsune onto my bed and cradled the sides of my head in my hands. _This is too confusing for me to handle! _What am I supposed to do?

There were two options and I intensely disliked both because of their possible and less favorable outcomes. The choices were relatively simple in words; tell him how I felt or don't.

The right thing to do would be to tell him, but there was also the loathsome fear of being rejected. Also, I didn't want to burden him with my feelings. That wouldn't be fair to him, but getting this off my chest would safe me possibly weeks and months of emotional agony.

The other thing I could do was take the more cowardly path and not tell him. But then I'd be torn up inside every time I saw him and I would hate myself for being so spineless. I didn't want to hate myself over a decision like this, but I couldn't just dump my feelings in his lap either.

It eventually dawned on me that no matter what I did the outcome would probably be unfair to one of us. Still, it was obvious that if anyone should suffer over this that it had to be me. I didn't want to do anything to ruin our current relationship, but a nagging voice in the back of my head kept telling me that sooner or later I'd have to say it.

Although, I thought it was strange that whenever I usually interacted with Mori he was as expressionless as a stone, but today he seemed a bit more approachable than usual. Perhaps it was because he spoke more than one complete sentence to me that caused me to take it this way. His eyes appeared to be softer too especially when he briefly touched on the subject of my scar.

I scolded myself. You're being too hopeful, I mentally reprimanded, there's no way he likes you in _that_ way as well. He's nice to everyone and it's only normal to be concerned when one of your friends is injured.

A loud knock on my bedroom door interrupted my thoughts and I instantly tried to hide under my bed comforter in fear that it was my mother.

I had nearly completely hidden myself under my comforter when I heard my bedroom door open and a soft voice say my name.

"Nodoka, what are you doing? Are you hoping to turn into a butterfly if you cocoon yourself up like that?"

I pulled my covers down partially so my head was visible and sat back up with my legs folded under my body. My sister, Osen, was standing in the doorway with a hand on her hip. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she had on dark red lipstick.

"What's with the makeup?" I shot back, ignoring her questions. Rudeness was apparently my subconscious self-defense mechanism.

She adjusted one of her earrings as she replied in a calm tone, "I'm going out to dinner with my fiance. Mom and Dad are coming along so you don't have to worry about them this evening."

"Your fiance?" I made a face at her.

She sighed heavily. "Well, he probably won't be my fiance for long..."

"Problems?"

"Yes and no. Lately he's been asking me if we want to wait a bit longer before we tie the knot."

"So he has commitment issues."

Osen smiled pleasantly. "Well, aren't you on the ball today?" She came over to me and ruffled my hair. I was too tired to swat her hand away. There was no point. I was emotionally drained at the moment yet my heart kept beating erratically. Osen was keen to notice my indifferent disposition almost immediately. "Did something happen today when you went to return that boy's uniform? You were gone for a long time."

I diverted my eyes away from her shiftily. "That's none of your business."

"Was it something good?" Osen pressed with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"I'm not answering that." I said through gritted teeth.

"You don't have to," she smirked slyly, "I can tell just by the way your blushing that something happened." She pinched my cheeks in a motherly fashion and continued to tease me. "Tell me what happened. I'm your older sister so you can tell me anything. Oh, your face is getting redder! Tell me!"

I tried to pull away from her and I ended up rolling over on my side and falling off of my head. I hit the floor and I had taken my pillows and comforter down with me. I lay in a crumpled heap on the floor with an unhappy scowl on my face.

Osen cautiously peered over the side of my bed with wide eyes. "Looks like I was right." She smiled down at me.

I glared up at her. "It's nothing, alright? Nothing happened! Quit imagining things with that twisted mind of yours!"

She arched an eyebrow. "Your face is almost as bright as a tomato."

"No it isn't." I grumbled as I covered it up with my blanket she could only see the upper half of my face.

"You're so stubborn, it almost makes you cute."

"Go away." My voice was muffled through the blanket.

She shrugged her shoulders disparagingly and exhaled noisily. "Fine, don't tell me."

"I wasn't planning on it." I quipped sourly.

I heard the loud clacking of her heels as she marched out of my room, clearly frustrated at the way I was holding information from her. I tried to ignore the guilty pang I felt racking my body when I heard her nearly slam my bedroom door.

Damn, I could be such a prick to people. I was a terrible sibling too. I could only hope that someday I'd be able to have a civil conversation with one of my siblings without biting their heads off.

I reminded myself that what had transpired wasn't any of her business though and that she had just wanted to stick her nose in where it didn't belong. However, I was having romantic trouble right now and I didn't doubt that my sister had far more experience in this area. Maybe when I had calmed down enough I would ask her for advice after making amends with her, that seemed like the most reasonable thing to do. After all, I desperately needed someone's help and I didn't want to have to resort to anyone extreme like Ranka-san just yet.

Either way, I needed to do something about my little crush before it got too out of hand for me.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. A mental image of Mori's bare torso flashed in front of my mind and I bolted upright in shock. My heart began beating insanely again and my palms became sweaty. I had a feeling that that image wasn't going to leave my mind for a long time. It wasn't that I minded seeing him that way, no doubt about it, he looked great, but it was more in the manner that I saw him that was bothersome.

Just terrific. I'm the female equivalent to a Peeping Tom.

How was I ever going to concentrate on anything else in the world with these kinds of thoughts tormenting me?

XXXXXX

Nodoka is stubborn. D:

Musical Inspiration- _Lonely in Gorgeous _by Tommy February6

Dc-chan: This wonderful chapter was typed on my brand spanking new _wireless_ keyboard. Oh man, I love this thing. –huggles keyboard-

Moving on...

I've stumbled upon another problem with writing a story in first person perspective; it's extremely limiting. I (or rather Nodoka) can't give insight on what other characters think and how their own feelings are developing (such as Mori's), which makes writing this story increasingly difficult. Oh well, I'm sure I'll manage somehow. Such is life. :3

Thank you for all the supportive reviews; I really enjoy reading them.

Happy (extremely belated) New Years!

Peace out.


	21. Under Pressure

Episode 21 of Luckiest Loser

Under Pressure

I slumped over the cash register, the hard plastic didn't exactly make the most comfortable pillow in the world, but for now it would do. I wrapped my scrawny arms around it and heaved a sigh, my eyelids seemed to get heavier with every passing second. The morning rush at the bakery had just ended and I had suffered through it alone. No wonder I was almost dying from exhaustion.

I had sent Arisa to go get coffee for me, but that had been over an hour ago. What was even more annoying was that the coffee shop was right across the street. What could possibly be keeping her this long?

A few minutes passed in silence until I heard the familiar -and now seemingly dreadful- chime of the bell that sounded whenever the front door of the bakery opened. I lazily glanced up to see Arisa walking towards me with a broad smile on her face and a cup of coffee in each of her hands.

"Here you go," she said as she thrusted it under my nose, the strong small of caffeine wafted up into my nostrils. When she saw that I wasn't making any effort to take it from her she set it down on the counter with a shrug before taking a sip from her own.

"What took so long?" I grumbled as I looked back up at her. "It doesn't take an hour to get a cup of coffee."

"Oh, so that's why you're so grouchy right now?" She chuckled vividly.

I simply glared at her.

Arisa caught sight of my serious expression and rolled her eyes towards the ceiling. "Well, if you must know I met a cute boy."

Ah, that explains a lot. She was easily distracted by those sorts of things. Figures.

"And we started talking about a little of this and a little of that and I guess the time just flew by. I almost totally forgot about you." She said the last part a little too cheerfully. Arisa then placed a hand on her hip. "What's with that face you're giving me? If you don't want to drink you're coffee because it's cold then stick it in the microwave. Stop moping about it."

"It's too late for coffee..." I murmured absentmindedly. "I'm already half asleep." My eyes felt like they were going to fall out of my skull. I don't remember ever being this exhausted before.

Arisa tapped her chin thoughtfully with her index finger before smirking devilishly, much like the Twins, and leaned over to whisper into my ear. "I bet if that senior, Mori, walked in here you'd be wide awake."

Instantly, I stood up straight as if my body had been shot with a bolt of electricity. My mind reeled. How did she know about that? I hadn't told anyone about it and I had definitely planned on keeping last Sunday's fiasco a secret.

"So something did happen." Arisa's voice was coy and playful. "I heard from your sister that you went to his house last week and that you seemed adamant about keeping the intimate details to yourself."

I knew what she was hoping for. Well, too bad for her. I wasn't going to tell her anything. I kept my mouth shut and folded my arms across my chest stubbornly. No force on the planet could make me talk.

Arisa took notice of my strong stance and pressed her lips together. She rolled her eyes again and said, "It's not like you walked in on him changing or something."

My face felt warm and I hastily turned away from her. The mental image of a half dressed Mori flashed in front of my eyes again. I shook my head violently. Must. Not. Think. About. Mori. I had been tormented all week during school, at home and at work with that image stuck in my head. Every time I thought of it I would blush uncontrollably, which earned me weird stares from my classmates, teachers, parents, and siblings.

I heard the sound of hysterical laughter and I whirled around to face Arisa with a bitter scowl. "It's not funny!" I'm sure by this point in time my cheeks were flushed a lively shade of bright red. There was nothing I could do to redeem myself anyway. She had seen my reaction. She knew. The end.

She was laughing too hard to answer me. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of anguish for me, she wiped the tiny globules of tears from her eyes and tried to look at me without giggling like a deluded maniac. "Is that what really happened?"

I paused for a second. Isn't is obvious? Judging by my own reaction it would be hard for her, or anyone else for that matter, to think otherwise. Or maybe she was hoping I would let something else slide, that would be wishful thinking on her part.

I remained quiet and diverted my eyes elsewhere. I was so frustrated at myself. I had sworn that no one would find out about it, but Arisa, of all people, had to inadvertently guess the right thing and I, being the horrible actress that I am, couldn't play it off like she was off her rocker for suggestion something like that.

"You're acting like it was such a bad thing." Arisa said as she waved a hand in the air dismissively. "I bet-"

"Arisa," I interrupted sharply, "could we please not talk about this?"

She seemed hesitant at first, but eventually she gave a defeated sigh. "Fine." She then leaned into me closer with a grin tugging at the corners of her lips. "But only on the condition you tell me how good he looks without a shirt on."

"Forget it!" I snapped back as I clenched my fists furiously. I walked out from behind the counter, my temper was sky rocketing. I took a few deep breathes as I went across the bakery to the front door and looked back at her over my shoulder when I placed my hand on the door handle. "I'm going out for a long walk."

"How long?"

"Very long." I put an extra emphasis on the word "very".

"What if there are customers?" She was now sitting on top of the counter with her legs crossed and jiggling one foot nonchalantly.

I opened the door after throwing another scathing glare in her direction. "You can deal with them. After all, you work here too."

"What about Mamoru? He's coming in later and I'm sure he'll want to see you."

For an instance my anger deflated and it was replaced with a feeling of terrible dread. "If he's coming then I definitely want to take a walk."

I didn't bother waiting for her to respond to my snide remark and left. I heard the door close loudly behind me as I began stomping down the sidewalk while angrily pulling my apron off over my head. Once it was off I scrunched the white fabric into a ball between my hands and squeezed it like it was a stress ball. My fingers dug into the fabric as I gritted my teeth.

The weather outside was gloomy, white clouds blanketed the sky and the air was cool against my warm skin. However, no matter how refreshing the cold air felt, I was still extremely agitated.

I never imagined that I would be so relieved to out of the bakery. For years that place had been a source of comfort for me whenever I was feeling emotional or distressed, but now it was the last place I wanted to be in the entire world. It was all Arisa's fault. If she would have just dropped the subject then I could have been half asleep in the bakery and badgering her about brining me lukewarm coffee right now. I was hardly ever fortunate enough to have the better outcome of things.

Despite how thoroughly peeved I was at Arisa I still felt bad for leaving the way I did. I was too prideful to go back though and make amends. I could easily blame her for my current mood, but with each minute that went by I found myself getting more angry at myself than at her.

This wouldn't even be a problem in the first place had I not walked in on Mori, but it being the case that I had stupidly done that I was going to have to live with it.

Suddenly, someone come up from behind me and covered my eyes with their hands. I nearly yelled in surprise until I heard my assailant's perky voice.

"Nodoka! Guess who it is?"

That voice was so distinguishable, I could recognize it from anywhere. I groaned loudly.

"Mamoru? What are you doing out here?" I inquired in a hostile tone as he removed his hands.

He ruffled my hair. "I was on my way to the bakery, but I got distracted." How he could possibly be so upbeat on an overcast day like today was beyond me. He was in his usual attire of tight denim jeans and a black t-shirt that had some foreign band name on it scribbled across the front in bright red letters. I wonder if anyone had ever told him how much his quirky personality clashed with his wardrobe. Then again, knowing him, he wasn't the kind of person that necessarily cared what others thought of him.

"Arisa's going to be mad at you if you don't show up," I scolded as I slapped his hand away. It was so typical of him to neglect his duties and for him to do as he pleased.

"Then let her be mad."

"You're brutal."

"We all can't be saints."

I pouted. "Now you're just being a jerk."

He heaved his shoulders up and down in a casual manner. "Perhaps."

I fought the urge to smack him over the head. Would it hurt for him to have some sense of responsibility? Then again, I really shouldn't be talking because I had ditched Arisa only a little while ago.

Mamoru shoved his hands into his jean pockets as he walked down the sidewalk with me shadowing him from a short distance.

"Why aren't you at the bakery?" He asked after a short span of silence.

"Arisa was getting on my nerves," I muttered almost inaudibly. "Why aren't you there?"

"Like I said, I got distracted."

"By what?"

"Nothing in particular," he answered plainly.

"You just didn't feel like going in today, wouldn't it be easier for you to just fess up to that?" A vein in my temple throbbed, but I didn't have the opportunity to lecture him about it thanks to the appearance of someone that I would call troublesome that I spied heading our way over Mamoru's shoulder.

The clacking sound of high heeled shoes against cement pavement had never sounded so ominous in my entire life until now.

"Ah, Fujioka-san. Long time no see." Mamoru greeted Ranka-san warmly with a toothy grin.

"Please, just call me Ranka. There's no need for such formalities," he chuckled slyly in response as he adjusted the brightly colored scarf around his neck. "It's nice to see you as well, Mamoru-kun. How have you been?"

Cautiously, I backed away from the two men while silently praying Ranka-san hadn't spotted me yet as I my small frame was shielded from view by Mamoru. I didn't want to get up between the two of them because both of them had the same air of frivolity around them at the moment.

"I've been fine," Mamoru started as he caught sight of me trying to escape from the corner of his eye. He then grabbed my wrist and pulled me forward. "I'm just spending some quality time with my cousin here. Right, Nodoka?"

I tried to wriggle free from his grasp. "Let-"

Ranka-san cut me off before I could berate Mamoru, "Nodoka-chan, I've meaning to discuss a few things with you." He linked arms with me forcefully and I felt my wrist slide easily out of Mamoru's hand. Ranka-san began dragging me along by his side like I was a rag doll. "Come on, Nodoka-chan. I have some lovely tea back at my apartment we can drink while we talk. Haruhi's busy with the Host Club today and I'm lonely."

I was somewhat relieved to hear that from Ranka-san. The last thing I wanted right now was to bump into any of the Host Club members, with the exception being Haruhi and Hunny. Mori was the last person on earth I wanted to face, I was too terrified that I would become flustered in his presence that I would rather avoid him altogether. Hikaru and Kaoru were a close second.

I tired to get my footing on the sidewalk, but the way Ranka-san was pulling me was making it impossible for me to do so.

"Hey! Can I come too, Ranka?" Mamoru asked as he followed closely behind us with that idiotic smile on his face. What a great cousin he was to willingly aid in my kidnapping.

"Of course, Mamoru-kun. I'd be delighted to have you as well."

Today was truly a wonderful day so far. I had gone from being a sleep deprived teenager on the edge of collapsing from sheer exhaustion to a hostage in little less than an hour. Like I said, this whole ordeal was absolutely _wonderful _and I knew it was going to get a whole lot worse before it got any better.

* * *

My eyes narrowed as Ranka-san placed the tea cup brimming with steaming liquid in front of me. I sat with my hands in my lap and I solemnly refused to take even one little sip from it. Mamoru sat by my side jubilantly with one of his arms around my shoulder. I desperately wanted to violently shove him away from myself, but I held back. He was my cousin after all, there was no reason to think that his friendly actions could possibly hint towards something else.

Ranka-san took his usual seat across from me and hummed happily as he drink his tea. I didn't know whether he was oblivious to my anger or just putting up a show to further get on my nerves. In way very similar to Mori, he was difficult to read. The exception was the Ranka-san was far more expressive, but even then it was hard to interpret his words, facial expressions, and actions accurately.

With his free hand, Mamoru picked up his own cup of tea and took huge gulps from it. I sometimes wondered if he had been brought up by wild animals rather than people judging from his lack of etiquette. I can't imagine how my aunt and uncle put up with him. I'm surprised my own mother hadn't thrown him off a cliff by now.

Ranka-san placed his cup down at the table and ran a hand through his hair. "How did your trip to the Morinozuka estate go?"

Mamoru nearly spit out his tea at that, but he managed to swallow it before giving me an incredulous look. "You went where?" I was only a little disturbed by his sudden interest in the subject. "What happened?"

I twitched. Why did everyone want to know about that?

"Why does everyone think that something happened?" I moaned as I wrung my hands.

Ranka-san put a hand up to his mouth as he laughed. "Your expressions are very readable, Nodoka-chan. The instant anyone mentions his name you start fidgeting. Isn't that right, Mamoru-kun?"

Mamoru didn't say anything and he turned his face away from me. There was definitely something going in his mind that he wasn't telling me about. He still kept his arm around my shoulder though, which I thought was odd considering the fact that he appeared to be annoyed with me.

Ranka-san's eyes darted back and forth between Mamoru and myself before giving me a small knowing smile. "Are you going to answer me, Nodoka-chan?"

I lowered my head as I sulked. I was mildly surprised that my temper wasn't flaring at him for prying into the matter like Arisa had done. Maybe it was because she had accidentally correctly guessed the event that had transpired and that had landed me in this constant state of tug of war inside my head.

He took another quick drink from his cup of tea. "You haven't answered my question yet."

I chewed on my bottom lip until it was partially swollen as Mamoru's grip on my shoulder tightened.

Ranka-san cupped his chin in his hand and rested his elbow on the table while staring at me expectantly. It felt like his eyes were drilling holes into me. I tried my best to ignore his piercing look.

I think he began to get irritated by me because he started drumming his fingers on the table in a rhythmic pattern.

"Osen was right," he said with a nod, "you're too stubborn for your own good."

"She also said that's what made me cute," I added in a mumbled whisper.

"And right she is!" Mamoru interjected loudly as he abruptly regained his usual aggravatingly playful demeanor. He rubbed his knuckles in little circles on my cheek teasingly. "The faces you make when you're being obstinate are priceless."

I was finally at my limit of abuse and I pushed him away from me. "Stop it." I stood up on my foot and put my hands on my hips as I glowered down at m cousin. "Do you have any idea how bothersome you can be?" I then shifted my attention towards Ranka-san and pointed my index finger accusingly at him. "And you! You're too nosy, if I don't want to comment about what happened then I shouldn't have to." My voice had been shaking as I spoke, maybe it was because I was feeling a tad nervous about telling Ranka-san off in such a furious way.

"You really don't want to say what happened then?" Ranka-san blinked at me without the slightest hint that what I had said had fazed him in any way.

"Yes," I answered bluntly.

Ranka-san delicately picked up his tea cup and gazed into the liquid contents within it. "You know, the more resilient you are about telling people what happened the more we're going to think you did something, how should I put this...inappropriate." He looked back up at me with a raised eyebrow and a thin sneer on his lips.

His last word struck a chord within me. Is this why everyone was so curious? They all thought that I had done something inappropriate. My body froze briefly as I tried to think what could have possibly gone through my sister's head last week when I evaded her questions. Was she thinking along the same lines?

"It's nothing like that," I stuttered in shock as I dropped back down into a sitting position next to Mamoru. "I wouldn't...never...no..." I could feel the blood rushing to my face as I tried to get my mind around how anyone could possibly jump to such a conclusion.

Ranka-san laughed flippantly, as if taking some sick pleasure from my panic. "I was just joking, I know you'd never do anything like that."

The man's a sadist, I swear.

"Then why bring it up?" I demanded as I puffed out my cheeks in frustration.

"I like seeing you squirm." He was a bastard alright, albeit an honest one. "But you honestly have no intentions of revealing what occurred so I guess it can't be helped." He sighed inwardly. For a fleeting instant I almost felt guilty for witnessing Ranka-san with such a forlorn expression until I realized that I was the one being played the victim here.

"The way you make it sound is like you hoped something would happen. Both you and Hunny were both pushy about me going there..." I trailed off as I saw Ranka-san's minute change in visage from sadness to apprehension. I rested one of arms across the low table and furrowed my brows suspiciously as a bead of perspiration dripped down the side of my forehead. "Don't tell me you two planned this?"

"Of course not! I only called Hunny to make sure you got there in one piece."

"Really? I thought you were the type of guy who'd bully to death any guy that got too close to your daughter."

"Well, yes I would. But you're missing the point."

"And that is?"

"You're not my daughter so I'll meddle in your personal affairs as much as I like. I didn't think you had the guts to do anything on your own so I gave you a little friendly push in the right direction."

I really should have seen this coming. It all seemed too convenient in the first place. He did have a good point though, I probably would have never returned the blazer on my own unless he had coerced me into it.

I glanced curiously at my cousin who had surprisingly remained stonily quiet throughout my revealing exchange of words with Ranka-san. Normally, I pictured him the type to jump right in with Ranka-san and tease me, but lately his behavior was erratic and unpredictable. I knew he was a strange guy, but I couldn't help feeling concerned. Life would be so much less complicated if I had even the faintest idea of what was going on in the heads of those around me.

Ranka-san then initiated a conversation with Mamoru. I wasn't in the mood to pay attention so I tuned out their voices. I eventually gave in and gradually started drinking the tea Ranka-san had poured for me. It was still warm and tasted vaguely like lemons.

I used the time that Ranka-san and Mamoru were talking to evaluate my situation. I liked Mori, but I had no clue if the feeling was mutual and I highly doubted that it was. That being the case, why would Ranka-san eagerly send me to Morinozuka mansion if he was only setting me up to be rejected? Ranka-san could be cold and mischievous, but he would never intentionally set someone up like that. Hunny was also eager to take me there after I had gotten myself lost, but Ranka-san insisted that he had nothing to do with his plan.

There was no denying that everyone seemed to have an ulterior motive of some sort. It was just a matter of me trying to figure out what it all meant.

**XXXXXX**

There's a reason Mamoru is the way he is. All will be revealed in time. :3

Musical Inspiration- _D-Technolife _by UVERworld

Dc-chan: I updated this when I should have been studying for upcoming finals. _This is madness. _And the fact that this story has over 300 hundred reviews is also_madness_, but the good kind.

Anyways, I have some interesting stuff planned for the next few chapters. I finally have a good idea of where I want to go with this story after twenty-one chapters (kinda sad, right?).

Review:D

Peace out.


	22. Quiet Adoration

I apologize for any potential OOCness that occurs in this chapter. I've been running a high fever the past few days and I'm suffering from a slight fever induced delirium. With that said, let's get this thing rolling now. D;

**XXXXXX**

Episode 22 of Luckiest Loser

Quiet Adoration

"Eh, Haruhi-sensei. I'm afraid I don't understand this problem."

The girl with short brown hair glanced over my shoulder briefly. "Nodoka, that isn't a math problem. More importantly, this is your English textbook."

I squinted my eyes at the text that I was currently fixated on. Ah, she was right. How could I make such a stupid mistake? I definitely was not thinking clearly today nor had I been in a good mindset all week. All I had been able to think about this past week was Ranka-san scheming, Mamoru's strange behavior, and ,of course, my embarrassing encounter with Mori that occurred almost two weeks ago now.

It was now Saturday and almost seven days had passed since I had spoken to Ranka-san and discovered his plot to push me "in the right direction", as he so forwardly put it. I had never pinned him as the type of person to be discreet about his actions or maybe it was my lack of perception that kept me from noticing his plot.

I tried to redirect my attention towards my studies, but with so much chaos going on both inside and outside of my head I found that to be difficult. School had ended just a few hours ago and I was at Haruhi's for my weekly tutoring session. It was evident she was becoming somewhat frustrated at my inability to buckle down and study today. I couldn't blame her for getting a little annoyed. She was sacrificing time for her own studies to help me out, but my mind was clearly on other things.

"Are you actually reading or are you just staring at the pages?" Haruhi asked with a raised eyebrow. The sudden intrusion of her wistful voice penetrated my head and snapped me out of my train of thought. "You haven't been able to focus at all afternoon."

I hunched my shoulders over as I closed my English book and placed it on the table in front of me before sighing. "I'm sorry, Haruhi. I'll try harder."

"Is something bothering you?" She asked with her eyebrow knitted together.

"No." I lied quickly as I immediately sat up straight. I knew instantly there was no point in lying to her because she continued giving me that acute stare that meant she knew something was off with me.

"Did my father say something to you? There was a bit of tension between the two of you before he left for work a while ago."

"You could say that. He's been rather troublesome lately." I noticed Haruhi's inquisitive expression. Of course she didn't understand what I was referring to when I had said that her father was "troublesome", I was completely positive she had nothing to do with her father's schemes. Haruhi would never partake in something like that anyway, it wasn't in her nature to toy with someone like Ranka-san would.

"It's nothing that you should concern yourself with," I continued hastily in an attempt to assure her that it was nothing that was worth her worrying over. I put my hands in my lap and tilted my head to the side. "Ranka-san and I have had a strange relationship for a long time anyway..." She didn't need to hear about him holding me in their apartment against my will with my wrists and ankles bound together though. Such unpleasant things were better left unsaid.

Haruhi bowed her head in defeat. "Alright then, but will you try to focus now?"

I reopened my English textbook and nodded briskly. "Yes, Haruhi-sensei."

"Please don't call me that. Besides, you're a year older than me." She edged closer to me so she could see what I was reading. She pointed with her index finger at the text. "Do you understand this or do you want me to explain it?"

I tried to carefully read the words on the page, but I couldn't stop my mind from wandering. I was supposed to be reading about direction prepositions, but I was only able to process bits and pieces of information. I felt so guilty for taking up Haruhi's time like this. She was only trying to help me out, but I just couldn't muster the willpower to concentrate.

Finally, after a few minutes of trying to comprehend the text in front of my eyes I turned my head and gave Haruhi a miserable look. "I don't get it." I pouted crossly as I waited for Haruhi to explain the lesson to me.

"Direction prepositions are words that express movement towards something." Haruhi ripped out a piece of paper from one of my notebooks and started writing down the main points for me. "The basic preposition of a direction is 'to', which signifies an orientation towards a goal or movement towards a destination. Are you following this so far?"

In all honesty it sounded like she was speaking some bizarre alien language to me, but for the sake of not being a burden to her I bobbed my head up and down obediently.

"Okay, now this..." she trailed off as we both heard the sound of someone knocking on the door.

"Is your father back from work already?" I asked skeptically. "He just left."

"I don't think that's my father..." Haruhi mumbled as a bead of sweat slid down the side of her temple.

"Then who could it-"

I instantly went dead silent as an all too familiar voice coming from the other side of the door cut me off.

"Haruhi!

Haruhi and I slowly turned to face each other. Haruhi appeared to be only slightly unnerved by this while I was almost paralyzed with fear. If Tamaki was here then there was a good chance that the entire Host Club had come as well.

"Look at it this way," I began with a shaky whisper as I stared at Haruhi, "you don't have to answer the door."

"I know that," Haruhi answered as she diverted her gaze to the floor, "but it would be far worse not to. He'll pester me nonstop at school if I don't."

I silently pleaded with Haruhi not to as she exhaled heavily before standing up. I pressed the palms of my hands together and made the saddest eyes I could muster. Unfortunately, this had no effect on Haruhi and she merely ignored my protest as she walked over to the door.

As soon as she had opened the door Tamaki leaped forward to embrace her in a massive hug. However, Haruhi had years of experience on her side and knew how to avoid his outstretched arms by swiftly stepping to the side, which caused Tamaki to fall face first onto the floor and flail his limbs around like a fish out of water. I have to admit that Tamaki's never ending suffering at the hands of Haruhi and Ranka-san was pretty entertaining or maybe it was just me enjoying the thought that someone else other than myself consistently made a fool of themselves in public.

I had almost been too preoccupied musing about the uncanny similarities between myself and Tamaki to notice that the twins were trying to sneak up on me. Luckily for me though, I had sensed their presence before either one of them had the opportunity to use my shoulders as an arm rest and I promptly leaned forward over the table so the two of them ended up bumping heads with one another. Secretly, I hoped that the two of them would get lovely matching bruises on their foreheads now. It would surely serve them right.

"That wasn't very nice, Noudo-chan," the twin on my left grumbled as he rubbed his forehead.

I fought to suppress an amused giggle though I was still visibly on edge because of their unwanted presence. "What do you guys want? I doubt you came all this way just to torment me."

"We were going to ask Haruhi is she wanted to come have dinner with us at a commoners' restaurant." They replied in perfect unison with identical smiles on their faces. They way they were almost always synchronized was beginning to irk me. "We didn't know that you'd be here as well."

I nearly shoved my English textbook in their smug faces. "I'm just here for help with my studies!"

"Obviously, there's no need to get all worked up over it." The twin on my right stated as he narrowed his eyes at me in standoffish manner. "We all know that you need help."

It was infuriating that I couldn't tell them apart. I would love nothing more than to yell at the twin who was currently staring at me like I was the biggest idiot in the world. I was able to discern one difference between the two of them by now though, the twin on my right was unquestionably a step meaner than his indistinguishable counterpart. If only I knew if he was Hikaru or Kaoru, I didn't want to mix them up and curse him out while calling him the wrong name.

"Hika-chan, don't make fun of her." Hunny piped up in a sweet tone of voice. He wiggled his way inbetween both of the twins and sat next to me. "I'm sure Nyo-chan's working very hard to improve." He titled his face upwards and smiled cutely at me. "You're studying hard, ne?"

"I'm trying to, but there have been distractions." I glared across the room at Tamaki and the twins who had busied themselves with hassling Haruhi to change into one of the many outfits that they had brought along for her. I didn't envy the attention she was getting one bit. Sometimes being ignored was a good thing, I felt sympathetic for Haruhi though. Poor girl, she's too cute for her own good.

It was then that I noticed that Mori was standing across from where Hunny and I were sitting. His hands were in his jean pockets and his back was pressed up against the wall, he appeared to be nonchalant and relaxed. His dark eyes were watching us though and this made me feel incredibly uncomfortable. It took me a few moments to realize that I had locked eyes with him. I felt my face get warm, as if often did around him, and I pried my eyes away from his in order to force my attention back towards Hunny.

"Have you been feeling well recently, Nyo-chan?" Hunny asked suddenly with his eyebrows etched together in concern. "Takashi said that your face was bright red when you were at his house last week. You didn't have a fever, did you?"

My stomach lurched and my eyes widened. Why would Mori mention that to Hunny? I stole a glance at the tall senior curiously. Had he been worried about me?

"You're not pushing yourself again, are you?"

I shook my head as I began gathering my notebooks, pencils and textbooks before dropping them into my bookbag. "Not really, I've just been trying to figure a few things out lately and it's been causing me a bit of anxiety. It's nothing serious though." I had a terrible habit of bending the truth when I wanted to avoid discussing the real source of my troubles. It didn't help either that one of them was standing in this very room watching me.

I finished putting my various things in my school bag. I decided it was best to make my escape now before I got dragged along with all of them to dinner. Out of the corner of my eye I managed to glimpse Haruhi still struggling to fend off Tamaki and the twins.

"Are you getting ready to leave?" Hunny inquired with a crestfallen face. "You don't want to come to dinner with us and Haru-chan?"

I stood up and rubbed the back of my neck after I slung my bag's strap over my shoulder. "I don't want to intrude or feel like an extra wheel. Besides you guys came here to see Haruhi, didn't you?"

Hunny tugged on my sleeve. "Do you want Takashi and me to walk you home then?"

I bit the inside of my cheek as I chanced another glance at Mori. He was standing upright now with his eyes glued to me, which I found painstakingly embarrassing. My cheeks flushed a light shade of pink and I had to twist my head away immediately to avoid exposing how flustered his intent stare made me.

"Nyo-chan?" The small blond said my name loudly over the blaring commotion Tamaki was making about how his "daughter" should wear a certain cute frilly dress in public.

I blinked and regained my senses. "Eh, no. I'll walk home by myself." I didn't know why, but I was suddenly extremely conscious of Mori's presence in the room. My heart started pounding and I had a feeling that if I failed to get out of Haruhi's apartment sooner or later my blush would deepen dramatically, therefore giving away my muddle of emotions to everyone in the room.

"Are you sure?" He pressed as he hugged his stuffed rabbit to his chest in a positively heartwarming matter. He then preceded to give me his trademark big, puppy dog eyes. They were the kind that were nearly impossible to say 'no' to, but I kept my ground even though I felt like by refusing his offer I was acting like the most horrible person in the world. These eyes were almost too cute to resist, but I had a younger brother so I knew how to withstand their power to some degree.

"I'm sure," I said simply.

I said my goodbyes to everyone, as was the polite thing to do and ever since my incident two weeks ago at the Morinozuka estate I had put in extra effort to make sure I wouldn't forgot the most common courtesies in public.

I paused in the doorway and looked back at everyone. They all seemed to be having fun at Haruhi's expense, but I supposed this sort of situation was normal for her now. A part of me wanted to stay just a bit longer to see what sort of bizarre antics would take place, I knew by now to expect crazy things from the Host Club members, but my chest hurt every time I caught a brief glimpse of Mori.

I was beginning to wonder if this kind of thing was normal when a person had a crush. Didn't people usually want to be around the ones they liked instead of running away?

Was it normal to not be able to bear being in the same room as him when I liked him so much?

Or perhaps I was only feeling this way because I feared the worse possible outcome, rejection.

I brushed it off and after I dared one more fleeting glance at Mori I hurried outside to leave Haruhi to her fate at the hands of the Host Club. I only felt a small pang of guilt, but it was for the best. Haruhi would know how to deal with them far better than I could.

I mentally cursed at myself for wearing shorts on such a cold day and any thoughts of Mori and the others were instantly pushed out of my mind. At least I had been smart enough to put a sweatshirt on before I left for Haruhi's apartment early on in the afternoon after school. It was now early evening, the sky was a mix of dark blue and orange and the stars were faintly twinkling over head. It was windy too, every few minutes a freezing cold blast of wind would rush by that made me shiver and I could feel the presence of goosebumps on my bare legs. At least the upper half of my body was warm, but my legs felt like they were encased in ice.

I walked down the sidewalk with my hands buried in the front pocket of my sweatshirt. With every passing minute my surroundings were getting darker and darker as the last rays of sunlight began to fade away. I didn't particularly mind it though, it was the fact that the lower half of my body was shaking uncontrollably from the frigid weather that was bothering me.

Perhaps I should have asked Haruhi if I could borrow a pair of jeans or sweatpants before I had left? Oh well, it was too late o do anything about it now. All I could hope for was that I'd make it home before my legs got frost bite or something. A pair of knee high socks would also be nice...

I stopped as I rounded a corner and saw a very unwelcoming sight. My feet became rooted to the spot as an all too familiar dark form came towards me under the light emitted from the nearby street lamp that was flickering on and off. Even in the sporadic glow of light I could tell who it was by the way he carried himself and that dark mess of hair on his head.

I began wishing that I had taken Hunny up on his offer to walk me home.

Hesitantly, after discovering renewed movement in my legs, I took a few solid steps backwards before he snatched my wrist in his taut grip.

"Don't you think it's strangely coincidental that we happened to be walking down the same street at the same time?" His lips curled up into a sneer.

"Let go, Kei." I stated firmly, trying to sound a lot more brave than I felt. Usually I was paralyzed in fear around him, but lately I had been finding that standing up to him wasn't as hard as I always thought it would be. However, just because I was able to talk back to him didn't indicate that he would ever stop pestering me. He probably got some sort of sick amusement out of seeing me writhe in his grasp.

"And if I refused?" He leered at me, his grip tightened.

"Let go." I repeated harshly.

He cupped my face gingerly and his expression softened considerably. "Look, I'm sorry about hitting you before. I didn't mean to do it. You know I'm sorry."

"I don't care if you are. Do you honestly think apologizing is going to make it all better? This is just the same crap you pulled on me when we were dating! You'd always do something stupid then apologize afterwards and I would forgive you even though it went against my better judgment. I finally got the courage to break up with you when I couldn't take it anymore, do you think any of that has changed now? You're still the same old self centered bastard you were back then and that's never going to change no matter what you say!"

I could hardly believe the words that come out of my own mouth. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I'd ever have a big enough backbone to say those things to him, A few months ago if he came near me I would cower in fear, but now it was different. I felt less scared, but I was still nervous. What I had just said might have sealed a grisly fate and now I was sweating bullets as I waited for his reaction.

His face was a blank slate, it was as if he was mulling something over in his mind. Before I knew it he had pulled me into a hug and had buried his face in the crook of my neck.

My arms hung limply at my sides as I was too stunned to react. This was...different. I certainly hadn't been expecting him to do anything like this. This was totally out of character for him. I almost preferred to be yelled at by him as opposed to dealing with this baffling behavior.

His arms wrapped around my upper torso in a snakelike fashion, which made it challenging for me to try to maneuver away from him.

I bit my bottom lip and closed my eyes as I took a deep breath. "Kei, please let go." His vulnerability at the moment was beyond frightening and I felt somewhat freaked out by it. I had only seen him like this only a few times during the course of our relationship. At times like this he would become truly sentimental and compassionate with me. I could only surmise that his bizarre conduct was a result of his home life, which, in comparison to mine, made my life seem almost ideal. His parents were much worse than mine, but that didn't excuse him for the hell he put me through in the past. I opened my eyes and exhaled noisily. "Please, Kei."

He didn't respond right away, his hold on me intensified though and it occurred to me that I had to free myself of his embrace soon before this situation became too tricky for me to handle.

"Nodoka," he sounded strained, "I know I messed up, but I'm-"

"Stop it!" I summoned up the strength in my arms and placed my hands on his chest before shoving him off of me. "I don't want to hear it."

Something in his soft expression seemed to break. He lunged forward and latched onto the sides of my arms furiously with quivering hands before he slammed my back up against a lamp post.

Kei shook me vigorously. "Why can't I make you understand?"

I pulled away from him, but I lost my balance and went crashing down against the ground. My right knee banged painfully against the cement sidewalk and I felt something wet pour down my shin and the side of my calf. Instinctively, I pressed my hand over my stinging knee to stop the bleeding. I sat helpless on the ground as Kei towered over me. With my knee gushing an insane amount of blood and hurting like heck there was virtually nothing I could do to thwart his advances. I was a sitting duck.

This was not looking good for me at all. In fact, that was probably a huge understatement on my part.

I tried to scoot away from him, but I was unable to move as fast as I wanted to.

You should scream, I thought to myself, someone will hear you and come to help. It seemed horrifically convenient that my voice got stuck in my throat when I tried to

I groaned. This was just peachy.

However, luck was on my side. Or rather, a certain pair of high school seniors had unbelievably good timing.

My eyes widened in disbelief when I spotted them. This was too good to be true. I resisted the urge to smack myself on the side of my side to see if I was hallucinating.

Kei grunted in surprise as Mori grabbed onto the fabric on the back of his shirt. Using the the grip he had on Kei's shirt, he yanked him backwards abrasively before releasing his hold on the fabric. He then positioned himself between my ex-boyfriend and myself in an authoritative manner with his arms crossed over his chest and dangerously narrowed eyes.

Hunny held Usa-chan under one of his arms while he slid his other hand into his pocket. "That's not how you treat girls!" His tone of voice dripped with malice and his big brown eyes were narrowed in disgust, neither of which fit his usual cheerful persona. I made a mental note to never get on Hunny's bad side so I'd never hear him use that scary voice or use that terrifying expression with me. I didn't know he had it in himself to be so intimidating.

Kei brushed off his pants as he stood up and grimaced at the two seniors in disdain. He was clearly unhappy with their interference and he glared sharply at Mori for what seemed like the longest time before retreating.

My eyes were fixed on his back as he sulked away and I breathed a sigh of relief before facing my two rescuers.

A long span of dead silence followed and all that could be heard was the sound of my own ragged breathing.

I took in a few deep gulps of air before adjusting myself on the cement sidewalk so I was sitting with my legs folded underneath me.

"You followed me?" I asked feeling a bit dazed as I was having a severe problem processing what had just occurred in my head. Mori worked his hands underneath my arms and pulled me up onto my feet. I wobbled a bit and my stance was shaky, but he kept his hands underneath my arms so I wouldn't lose my balance. I was abashed by how much care he was treating me with, I wasn't used to any male handling me so much care.

"Nyo-chan," Hunny started in a hushed voice, "we were really, really worried that you would bump into him again, ne?"

"Ah," Mori murmured with a small frown.

I squeaked pathetically in surprise when Mori abruptly swept me up in his arms. He held me so that one of his hands was firmly placed on my back while the other supported my legs and I blushed when it dawned on me how close our bodies actually were at this point. He showed no visible signs that it bothered him if he did notice it as well, his face had returned to its usual stoic expression so once again I was unable to decipher any recognizable human emotion from him. With a stony face like that he'd probably make a killing if he played poker.

"We should tend to your knee soon," he said in his usual impassive, deep voice. It was soothing to hear him speak and the touch of his hands was a pleasant sensation, but I would never admit that aloud.

"Yeah," I agreed with a slight nod. It wasn't bleeding nearly as badly as it had been when I had first fell on it, but the dried blood was still disgustingly unsightly. It was also stinging rather painfully now. "I have antiseptic and bandages at my house."

Hunny beamed brightly at me, which I found to be odd when taking into account the circumstances. "Takashi's very good at taking care of injuries, ne?"

"Mm?" I found myself lifting my head upwards to stare at Mori. He returned my gaze evenly and it was then that I saw the small sliver of emotion in his dark eyes. That gentleness stirring in his eyes was haunting to me and the truth suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks dropping on me from the sky.

I didn't just have a little crush on the tall, dark haired senior. It was far more complicated than that.

I had fallen for him.

I had fallen hard for Takashi Morinozuka.

**XXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _Must Be Dreaming _by Frou Frou (her music is so relaxing)**  
**

Kei will be back. He's like Lord Voldemort, he's gone off somewhere to gather his powers and will come back even stronger than before. Yep, a big showdown is definitely coming up. Or maybe, a not so big one? I haven't quite decided how to deal with him. Ideas would be nice -wink, wink, nudge, nudge-. Anyway, I'm trying to be more productive lately. I would love to get this story finished before I drag it out for too long though, but as of now I have no intentions to end it just yet. :'D

When I spell checked this chapter my computer replaced 'Takashi' with 'Latashia'. I thought that was pretty damn funny. And yes, I changed my pen name. I thought it was time for a change.

Thank you all for the supportive reviews.

Peace out.


	23. More Than Words

Episode 23 of Luckiest Loser

More Than Words

I sat on the edge of the footstool that my brother had regularly used when he had been too small to reach the bathroom sink with my arms pinned at my sides as I watched Mori gently clean the blood off around my knee with a damp towel. He was dropped down on one knee and was leaning over my injured leg while he gingerly wiped the dried blood off of my skin. His dark eyes were focused in concentration at his task and the only sound that resonated in the bathroom was the soft whooshing of breaths as we inhaled and exhaled steadily.

My fingers clamped tightly around the edges of the stool as I tried to suppress the light pink blush that was appearing on my cheeks. I was embarrassed that he was taking care of my wound like I was some pitiable child and every time one of his fingers would brush against my cold skin I would involuntarily shudder.

I watched him intently though, it was rare for us to be by ourselves. Hunny was usually close at Mori's heels or it was the other way around. I could only recall a handful of other instances where I had been alone with him like this, but now that I was aware of my feelings I couldn't deny that I enjoyed it. At the same time however, being alone with him terrified me.

I could hear hushed voices from the living room across the hall despite the door to the bathroom being closed. I was able to make out my sister's own frantic voice and I knew the more sugary one belonged to Hunny. I knew they were talking about something, but they were conversing too quietly for me to make out any distinct words.

My sister was probably in shock, much like the time Mori had carried me all the way to my house like a bag of flour when I had a fever. I bet the last thing she expected to see when she answered the door this evening was her stubborn little sister with blood all over one of her legs and being held in the tall senior's arms once again.

I remembered on the walk to my house I had insisted that carrying me was unnecessary, but Mori seemed unwilling and reluctant to let go of me. Perhaps he was afraid I'd trip over my own two feet again? I had a nasty habit of doing that frequently, but it rarely ever resulted in any bodily harm. Usually my tail bone, if I had fallen backwards, would be sore for a few hours or the front of my body, if I had fallen forwards, would sting if I had landed on my palms and knees.

I sighed lightly. In an odd way, it was rather fortunate that this was the only injury I had received because if Mori and Hunny hadn't intervened when they did I might have been...no, I didn't want to think about that. I was lucky that they cared enough to follow me. I was very lucky.

It was also wonderful that my parents were conveniently not home at the moment. I heard Osen mumble something about taking them taking Tetsushi and going out for dinner. I silently rejoiced at the news despite how perplexed I was feeling after my encounter with Kei. The last thing I need was my banshee of a mother screaming in my ear about something completely arbitrary. Also, I doubted Mori and Hunny would be welcomed into our home if she was here. That woman could hold a grudge for years.

I pushed the unpleasant thoughts of my mother out of my head, which was rather tough because now I had an an image of her rage contorted face bellowing at me etched into my mind. Honestly, I preferred the half dressed memory of Mori to her any day.

He put the damp clothe aside and I got a clear look at my wound for the first time without it being caked in bright red blood. The skin on my knee was light pink and appeared as if it had been ripped open at the seams. It still felt prickly, but it was more of a dull pain if anything.

He then propped my leg up on his knee so it was elevated as he began wrapping the bandage around it. Mori was clearly experienced in doing this and I vaguely wondered how often Hunny endured the same treatment I was receiving right now.

When he finished I lowered my eyelids and smiled shyly at him. "Thank you."

He lifted his head and looked at me with warm, friendly eyes. I saw the faint traces of a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

I rose to my feet as a wave of awkwardness suddenly washed over me. What was I doing acting like an abashed fool in front of him? Was I really trying to give away my feelings for him so easily? I felt an urge to tug at my own hair in frustration, but I harshly told myself to keep it together.

Calm down, I berated myself mentally, try to ignore the fact that you're standing less than two feet away from him and that he's staring at you.

I shifted my feet uncomfortably and rubbed my hands over one another nervously. I hated being so fidgety, but what else could I do? I had no clue what to say to him or how to act around him without looking like a mindless idiot. I felt I could be forgiven for the later though after taking into account the reason I was so uneasy around him was that I liked him more than words could describe. I don't even think the word "like" was proper enough to describe my feelings for him, but until I could substitute it for a better word it would have to do for now.

A sudden knock on the bathroom door made me jump.

"Nodoka, how's your injury looking?" My sister asked from the other side of the door in concern.

"It's...fine..." the words seemed to spill out of mouth slowly. I leaned against the sink as I glanced back at Mori.

Our eyes met for a second before he abruptly stood up. I was clueless as to what could have caused this sudden movement by him and I hesitantly followed him out of the bathroom only to be immediately pounced upon by the small blond senior.

"Nyo-chan, promise us you'll be more careful in the future." Hunny said in a determined tone.

"More careful? I can't exactly pick and choose when I'll accidentally run into Kei..." I trailed off as I noticed that my sister and the two seniors were giving me deadly serious expressions. I ashamedly dropped my gaze to the floor and gave Hunny a grave nod. "I'll try to be."

Hunny seemed satisfied with this reply and didn't press the matter any further.

"We'll see you later then, ne?"

"Yes." I bowed politely and watched them leave with my sister by my side. I really didn't want them to leave so soon, but it was only out of my childish selfishness that I wanted them to stay.

My emotions were definitely conflicted now. Part of me was still jittery after the skirmish with Kei while the other half was trying to deal with how I felt about Mori. Being torn like this wasn't in the least bit enjoyable. I needed to relax and forget about my problems for a while, even if it was only for an hour or two.

I subconsciously found myself wandering into the kitchen. This particular place had always provided a calming therapeutic atmosphere for me in the past. I began taking out measuring cups and bowls from the cabinets and placed them onto the counter.

My sister curiously poked her head into the kitchen and made a face at me. "What are you doing?"

"Baking." I answered curtly as I took a carton of eggs out of the refrigerator.

**XXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _Learn To Fly _by Foo Fighters

Egh, short chapter. I probably could've lumped this together with the last chapter, but I was far too lazy to do so. Also, I already have the next chapter planned out and it isn't related to this one at all so I didn't want to put this together with that and so on and so forth.

I think I'm romance writing impaired. I like to move things along slowly. Very slowly. :'3

Thank you all for the marvelous reviews!

Peace out.


	24. Bad Day

Je t'aime beaucoup mon amour.

I have no idea what that means, but I thought it sounded classy after almost an entire month without an update.

**XXXXXX**

Episode 24 of Luckiest Loser

Bad Day

_"Nodoka, have you seen this?" My mother shoved my progress report in my face._

_I nodded, I already knew where this was going. It wasn't worth the effort to argue with her on this matter._

_"And I thought you were going over to that Fujioka girl's house for tutoring. How do you explain this then?"_

_"At least I'm not at the bottom of the class anymore..." I breathed heatedly._

_"You still don't get it, do you? These kinds of grades won't get you into a decent college. Are you even trying? Why can't you be more like your sister for once?"_

Nearly six hours had passed since I had received that fervently loud verbal lashing from my mother and my poor throughly abused ears were still ringing.

My mother was such a pleasant woman. Oh wait, did I just say pleasant? I meant infuriating. There's was no way that that ungodly creature that had the outward appearance of a human woman could ever be deemed pleasant. My mistake.

I sighed heavily as I drummed my fingertips against my thighs. Usually, I treasured slow days at the bakery because it allowed me free time to bake without attending to the whims of costumers, but after nearly using up all the ingredients in my house last week in an effort to vent my emotions I just didn't feel up to it anymore. My mother wasn't exactly pleased when she came home that night to find all the flour, eggs, and milk gone. I suspect that was part of the reason she was furious with me, then again, she was always mad at me about something or other. It's almost sad to admit that I was getting used to being treated so harshly by her.

What was really aggravating me though was the fact that she just happened to go off at me after another Kei ordeal. I'm sure it was entirely coincidental on her part because neither of my parents knew about Kei or my past history with him and I never mentioned any incidents to them involving him.

The only highlight of that whole little episode was my few minutes of one-on-one time with Mori. Just having him there and tending to my injury afterwards was enough to keep me from flying off the handle due to my inability to cope with distressing situations.

Occasionally throughout the week I would glance down in abashment at my scarred knee and remember the feelings that had been going through my head at the time despite how muddled they were. Just recalling the fleeting touch of his fingers, the sound of his breathing, and the gentle nature of his dark eyes enabled me to hold onto what tiny bit of sanity I felt I had left.

However, as the week slowly trudged on the memory had lost some of its potency and I began to get more anxious and short tempered. Unfortunately, my brother was usually the one I took it out on and we weren't exactly on speaking terms with one another now. It was definitely far more difficult to become a better older sister than I had first thought.

"Good afternoon, Nodoka-chan!"

I looked up to see my cousin prancing through the bakery's front doors with a wide grin on his face. I arched an eyebrow, his cheery behavior somehow seemed suspicious to me today. However, I was in no mood to tolerate him. I was ready to punch the hell out of the nearest living thing that got within my arm's reach. I had to constantly remind myself that taking my frustration out on other people in a violent matter wouldn't help my situation, but there was no denying how incredibly tempting it was.

Mamoru seemed to intuitively pick up on my sour mood immediately, but that didn't seem to stop him from walking dangerously close to me. It didn't surprise me that even though he was fully aware of my bad state of mind that he dared to come near me, he had always been the type of guy to play with fire.

"May I ask what has made my lovely cousin so grumpy today?"

I didn't respond and I kept my lips firmly sealed as I stood behind the cash register with furrowed brows and trembling clenched fists at my sides.

He put his palms face down on the counter and leaned over towards me curiously. "Are you alright? You look seriously pissed." I didn't know whether he was feigning being concerned or not, you could never tell with this guy.

"Can you please find someone else to annoy today?" I tried to mask the contempt tone in my voice, but, as I've said before countless times, I'm probably the worst actress in the world.

"I would, but everyone else is busy." He smiled so cutely at me that I almost felt the need to gag. Only Hunny should be allowed to smile like that, no one else could pull it off without looking delightfully deranged.

"I'm busy too." I muttered quietly.

His eyes darted around the empty bakery and he chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I can see that." His voice wasn't as arrogant as it had been when he had first greeted me, but there was still that irksome undertone of deviousness hidden in it.

"I talked to Tetsushi earlier." Mamoru rubbed the back of his neck as he leaned against the counter with his back to me.

"Hmm?" This didn't shock me at all. The two of them had always been particularly close especially after Tetsushi had been discharged from the hospital a few weeks ago.

There was a short span of silence following my curt apathetic response. I didn't mind it, I welcomed the silence because it was so much more preferable to the sound of my harping mother or someone set on irritating me, like Mamoru for instance.

"He said you got into another row with your mother this morning. He wouldn't elaborate on it though."

I lowered my eyelids and folded my arms over my chest in a solemn manner. "If that's what you came here to talk about then you should just leave."

Mamoru frowned. "Not talking about it isn't going to make it go away, you should know that better than anyone by now."

I unintentionally slammed my fists down on the counter. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

He gazed at me with a blank stare before looking away. "I guess it doesn't really mean anything."

"Then why did you say it?" I questioned bitterly.

He shrugged. "Just ignore it, there's no point in giving advice to someone who won't take it."

I knitted my eyebrows together in confusion. Was he trying to make a point here? Or was he just trying to get under my skin? I had to admit that the later seemed more his style, but with his cryptic behavior recently I couldn't be too sure.

Minutes ticked by without either one of us saying a single word. I secretly hoped that he would grew bored with my reluctance to provide him with any sort of conversation and leave, but I guess that's what people would call a pipe dream.

"This is fun, yeah?" Mamoru said with his trademark smile before giving me an expectant look.

"Positively thrilling," I replied dully at an almost inaudible volume. Why couldn't he just take a hint and leave? There had to be a reason he was hanging around me like this, but what was it? There had to be a logical explanation for this because I couldn't think of anything that I could've possibly done to him to deserve this kind of vexing treatment. Perhaps it would be best to ask him outright.

"Hey, Mamoru..." I started.

"Yeeesssssss?" He blinked innocently at me, which , if I may point out, was oddly disturbing.

I hastily diverted my eyes away. "Never mind." I don't think I even wanted to have the slightest idea of what occurred in that head of his. Maybe some rocks were better left unturned after all.

"Did you want to ask me something?" He put a hand on his hip and turned towards me with his mouth skewed to the side.

I shook my head violently. "No."

"But you-"

"You were imagining it."

"I could've sworn you just-"

"You're delusional, dear cousin."

"Now that isn't a very nice thing to say to your elders..."

I grimaced. "You're not that much older."

His smile faded away. "Speaking of older men," Mamoru said airily, "how's Morinozuka these days?"

My hands twitched and I could feel blood rushing to my face. I tried to ignore the throbbing sound in my head, but it was so loud and constant that I thought my brain was close to exploding out of my skull. "Since when did you start calling him by his last name?"

"Why do you care what I call him?"

"But it sounds like you don't like him," I began in a troubled voice, "when you refer to him as Morinozuka." I fidgeted and I grabbed onto the fabric of the apron I was wearing in an uncertain manner. Why was this making me so uncomfortable?

He put his hands behind his head, lacing his fingers together as he gazed up at the ceiling. "You barely know him and you're on such familiar terms with the guy. You should be calling him Morinozuka as well."

I bit my bottom lip. I didn't understand why I was feeling so awkward about this subject, but part of me felt that Mamoru had a point. Was I unintentionally being rude to him whenever I called him by his nickname? Hunny had always called me Nyo-chan, but that was different because he was a year older than me.

"It just makes me think..."

I eyed him warily. "About what?"

"...if you have any sort of special regard for him."

My regards for Mori? What brought this on so suddenly? I racked my brain as I tried to think of a suitable answer.

"I don't have any special regard for him," I lied nervously while tiny globules of sweat rolled down the back of my neck like insects scurrying across my skin. "We're friends." I know, I know. It was absolutely terrible of me to lie about this, but I didn't want to discuss it with Mamoru of all people.

"You're friends, eh?" He gave a hoarse laugh. "Then it looks like I don't have anything to worry about yet."

I titled my head to the side and gave him a blank stare. All the previous emotions of anger and resentment had been wiped away. I had no idea what he was talking about and it was strangely bewildering to be in the middle of a conversation with someone and realize you have no freaking clue about what they're referring to.

He reached over the counter and ruffled my hair playfully. "Now be a good girl and work hard, okay?"

I scowled at him and hurriedly whacked his hand away from my head with a spatula that had been conveniently laying near me on the counter top. "Could you please refrain from praising me like I'm a dog?"

"Oh, you're not?"

I damn near lifted up the cash register and chucked it at his head, but I knew that a good blow to the head wouldn't change him for the better. He'd probably nag me about it for the rest of my life and never give me a moment's peace if I did something as unseemly as that.

"I'll see you later then." Mamoru beamed at me and stuck out his hand. "Shake."

I lifted up my hand, but when I realized what I was doing I immediately pulled it back. "I'M NOT A DOG! GO AWAY!" I yelled at him with my face burning bright red in embarrassment. I couldn't believe I almost did something that idiotic. I know I wasn't bright, but honestly now...how many brain cells do you have to be lacking to almost fall into such an overt trap?

I watched as he left the bakery, he was holding his sides while laughing much to my extreme dismay.

His visit had certainly left an acrid aftertaste in my mouth. He had most definitely given me me a few things to think about.

Firstly, what was wrong with him? He had never acted like this with me before. I wasn't used to seeing him go from happy-go-lucky to frightening serious in just a matter of seconds and then back again.

Secondly, I was now having second thoughts about calling Mori and Hunny by their given nicknames. I had never thought that it could possibly be problematic in the past. They had gone out of their way to save my skin and befriend me and all I had done in return was be horribly informal with them. Would it be okay to call them by their last names? Then again, I didn't know Hunny's last name so perhaps it would be wiser to call them by their first names and address them as Mitsukuni-san and Takashi-san. For some reason, that didn't sound any better than addressing them by their nicknames to me.

Lastly, why the hell was I so stupid? It seemed beyond unfair that my older sister and my little brother were smart and I was struggling to squeak by with passing grades. And then there was that wonderful little moment where I almost totally humiliated myself in front of Mamoru.

Luckily, before I got too caught up in my own self pity, which was something I perpetually loathed with every fiber in my being, the phone rang.

Without thinking twice, I answered it and I held the receiver by my ear as I spoke. "Hello, Sugiyama Bakery. How may I help you?"

"Noooodddoookkaaaaaa, it's great to hear my niece's voice after so long!"

My face paled and I nearly dropped the phone at the sound of that cheery and easily recognizable voice. No way, this could not be happening. Why was _he_ calling me at work? And more importantly, who gave _him_ this number?

I was at a loss for words due to shock. All I could do was stammer his name while my entire body tensed up. "T-t-tamaki?"

"Haruhi's father gave me your work number," he went on happily as if he didn't have a care in the world, "so I decided to call."

"He did? Or did you ask for it specifically?" I had a feeling what the answer would be.

"I...asked for it...but only because I was concerned about my niece's wellbeing." He sounded a bit like he was going to cry.

"It's fine, it's fine," I coaxed reassuringly, "I just wish Ranka-san would tell me these things." I highly doubted that Ranka-san would even have told me that he done this, he seemed to enjoy making my life difficult ad catching me unaware. "So, are you just calling for the sake of it or is there something you want?"

"Ah, yes!" His enthusiasm was an indication that he had regained some of his energy. "I was wondering if you wanted to go to the amusement park with us next week."

"By 'us' you mean the Host Club, don't you?"

"Well, yes." He said bluntly.

I hadn't been to an amusement park in years. I usually tended to avoid those kinds of public places.

"I'll think about it," I replied dryly. I didn't want to flat out reject the idea. I figured that some social interaction would do well enough to distract me from my troubles, but I didn't want to say yes either because I didn't want him to get any crazy ideas. From first hand experience I knew he was the type to get carried away far too easily.

We talked a little more about various things like homework and school, I actually found that conversing with him wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. He was nice, lively, and outgoing over the phone. Perhaps I had been too brash by judging him so hastily?

I had to hang up though when some customers entered the bakery and I did it rather reluctantly. Talking with Tamaki had been a brief respite from such a tumultuous day. I wasn't looking forward to dealing with my mother when I would have to go back home, it was fortunate for me that we rarely worked the same shifts. But after having a surprisingly enjoyable talk with Tamaki I felt like things weren't so bad anymore.

Who knows? Maybe next week will be fun.

**XXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _Infected_ by Bad Religion

Another shortish chapter, my creative juices just really aren't flowing lately even though I already knew what I wanted to cover in this chapter. You can also blame my friend for lending me _Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney_, those defense attorney games are like crack for me. And haha, Nodoka is easily confused. D:

Thank you all for the reviews last chapter. I'm glad Nodoka is a likable character, however, sometimes I wonder whether she and Mori are really compatible for each other...egh.

Peace out. :D


	25. Their Mother

Episode 25 of Luckiest Loser

Their Mother

Today had certainly gotten off to an interesting start. I had been innocently minding my own business while walking down the sidewalk on this beautiful Sunday morning when, out of nowhere, I was abducted by Tamaki. I hadn't forgotten that I had phoned him back a few days ago agreeing to go to the amusement park with him and the Host Club at some point during the weekend, but I don't think I ever mentioned to him that I wanted him to literally drag me off the street and into his fancy black car. I think he called it a Rolls Royce or something. Oh well, cars were cars to me.

I sat next to him with a slight frown on my face. The smell of the clean leather car seats was making me nauseous.

"Aren't you excited?" he asked me eagerly with sparkling eyes and a playful smile. He seemed especially radiant today, almost as if he was glowing with joy.

"Excited isn't exactly the word I'd use," I muttered sullenly. "Being kidnapped doesn't top of my list of thrilling things to do, you see. Anyway," I breathed, as I decided to change the subject, "I thought you said you weren't going to pick me up until this afternoon."

"I thought it would be fun to spend the morning at the twin's house." Tamaki answered. "Besides, uncle wants to dress his niece and Haruhi up in cute clothes."

I twitched. It's true that I wasn't the type to wear cute clothes, but I didn't think there was anything wrong with the blue and white stripped sweatshirt and pair of jeans that I was wearing. Sure they were hand-me-downs from my older sister, but they still fit me well.

I looked out the car window longingly. "Haruhi's coming too?" I definitely hadn't been expecting that. I didn't mind it though, at least I'd have one down-to-earth person to talk to today. However, I had a feeling she was going to be in an indifferent mood or maybe a bit annoyed. Perhaps she had been kidnapped as well? This didn't seem like the type of thing she'd do so willingly.

Tamaki nodded. "I couldn't just leave my daughter at home."

I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth. I wonder where in his head had he gotten the idea that he was her father and my uncle. It wasn't like he was actually related to either of us. Maybe he had a family role play fetish? I think I recall him calling Kyoya "mom" and "mother" a few times.

My eyes stayed focus on the scenery outside the window. We passed various stores, parks, schools, and houses of people that I knew. I noticed the forlorn glances that the pedestrians along the sidewalk gave as the car cruised past them. They probably thought that this type of car was luxurious and flamboyant, I had thought that too at first, but the overwhelming smell of leather car seats was getting repugnant. I figured Tamaki must be used to this kind of thing because it didn't seem to bother him at all. That or he had no sense of smell.

"How's everyone at the Host Club been?" I asked offhandedly, hoping to make polite conversation. I was more than inclined to do anything to take my mind off the smell of the car seats.

"Everyone's doing very well, except..." he trailed off and bit his bottom lip thoughtfully.

"Except what?" I asked out of mild curiosity.

He tilted his head to the side and heaved a worried sigh. "Mori-senpai's been a bit clumsy lately."

At the sound of his name my heart skipped a beat, but I retained my stiff composure without so much as glancing in Tamaki's direction.

"That doesn't seem like him at all." I couldn't imagine Mori, of all people, being a klutz. It didn't suit his character. Then again, I had to constantly remind myself that I didn't know him as well as someone like Hunny. I'm sure Tamaki knew him better than I did as well, which made me feel slightly jealous. What could cause something as bizarre as that though? The thought of Mori tripping and knocking into objects seemed as infeasible as pigs flying.

"Perhaps he's worried, he acted like this before when Hunny-senpai had a cavity a while ago." Tamaki said as he rested his chin on his fist.

Worried? Why would Mori be worried?

Before I could press further about Mori's behavior the car came to stop and it was then that I realized that I was no longer looking at ordinary houses outside of the car window. It was mansions as far as the eye could see, with large driveways and perfectly trimmed lawns that stretched across the sides of the road like an endless green carpet. There were even marble fountains and high hedges.

Even though I had seen mansions before when I had gone to the Morinozuka household, the sheer enormity was still fascinating and breathtaking. It was like stepping into another world completely separate from where I had grown up, it never ceased to amaze me.

However, the thought that Mori had grown up accustomed to such grandeur was daunting. What did I, a mere baker, have to offer him that he didn't already have? I'm sure he grew up having everything that he could ever possibly want and more. Just thinking about that made me feel depressed. My crush seemed like an utterly hopeless cause when put into perspective like that.

Tamaki, in a very gentleman-like manner, opened the car door for me and offered me his hand as I stepped outside. For such a colorful character, he really did have many admirable virtues. I wasn't finding his personality as troublesome as before, in fact, I was feeling rather grateful that he was as courteous and polite as he was.

It was also refreshing after being around Ranka-san and Mamoru for so long. I was so tired of Mamoru tugging me around like a rag doll and messing with my head with his unexplainable behavior. And I was flat out sick of Ranka-san manipulating my actions like I was a puppet on strings.

I absentmindedly shadowed Tamaki's footsteps as he headed towards the mansion directly in front of us. It was by far the biggest on the block and the architecture was much more modern in comparison to Mori's.

I didn't have enough time to gawk mindlessly at it as I soon found myself stepping through the large entrance, it seemed my feet were moving on their own accord.

I made sure to keep Tamaki in my line of vision as I gaped wordlessly at my surroundings. Haruhi was right, these guys were, without a doubt, "rich bastards". I couldn't keep track of all the oil paintings I saw while venturing in the hallway behind Tamaki or how many maids and butlers had scurried past me.

"Tamaki, are you..." I trailed off when it dawned on me that I had unconsciously wandered off on my own. I twirled around in a circle at least a dozen times while calling his name, but there was no answer.

Well, this certainly was typical of me. Only an idiot like myself would walk off and get lost like this. If medals were given out for getting lost, I'm sure that I would take home the gold. That is, if I could navigate my way back home without getting even more lost.

Suddenly, I felt someone collide into my shoulder, which was excruciatingly painful. I fell down onto the floor and whoever had rammed into me toppled over on top of me. We laid sprawled out on the floor for a few minutes, neither of us moving. I didn't mind it though, whoever had landed on top of me was rather light so it wasn't like I was being crushed against the floor or anything.

"Shit," I grumbled bitterly as I staggered back onto my feet before helping up the person who had nearly ran me over.

I almost didn't recognize that the girl who had bumped into me was Haruhi at first. Her bangs had been brushed to the side and pinned in place, which gave me a perfect view of her brown, doe-like eyes. Her cheeks were also flushed a light shade of red from running, I presumed judging by the way she was nearly gasping for air. She had on a black ruffled skirt that went down to her knees and a dark blouse with frilly quarter length sleeves. It had the impression that she had grown taller too until I noticed that she was wearing laced up heeled boots with white stockings. The clothes certainly suited her well. I'm sure Ranka-san would squeal in delight if he ever saw his daughter dressed up like this.

"Sorry, Nodoka." Haruhi panted as she hunched over and placed her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.

"It's okay," I said as I rubbed my aching shoulder. Oh joy, another bruise to add to my collection, I thought darkly. "Did the twins put you in those clothes? Are you running away from them?" I asked, not even trying to hide the surprise in my voice. She looked so elegant, like a little doll.

Haruhi leaned her back against the wall and gloomily lowered her head. "Well, they were the ones chasing me. Then I saw Tamaki-senpai..."

I blinked twice. "Then who changed your clothes?" Usually, I would suspect something like this from Hikaru and Kaoru. The two of them seemed to be unnaturally fond of Haruhi, although, that was just my opinion on the matter.

I nearly screamed bloody murder when I felt someone drape their arms over my shoulders. It was like a cold shill had shot up my spine and made the back of my neck feel prickly.

"You must be Noudo-chan, yes?" The arms withdrew from my shoulders slowly and I shakily clutched the fabric of my sweatshirt that was near my pounding heart.

I had been fully anticipating that the person who had embraced me was one of the twins because they were the only ones I knew, besides Mamoru, that had ever treated me like I was some sort of arm rest. However, I was taken back when I turned around to see that it wasn't Hikaru or Kaoru, but a stylish looking woman with short hair who stood a few inches taller than myself. She looked eerily familiar though, I felt like I seen someone with similar features to her before. Despite that, she was positively beautiful. Maybe she was a celebrity? With her ideal features, petite frame, and choice of clothing I wouldn't have been surprised to learn if she was an actress.

"Actually," I began quietly, suddenly feeling extremely out of place, "it's Nodoka." I detested the nickname that the twins had given me and I was horribly disappointed that someone whom I didn't even know had called me by it. I nudged Haruhi gently and whispered, "Who is she?"

Haruhi peered at me from the corners of her eyes. "Hitachiin, Yuzuha. She's Hikaru's and Kaoru's mom and..." she paused as she tugged at her skirt, "she's a fashion designer."

My mouth formed a small 'O' as I allowed my brain time to absorb this new information. I was a bit speechless, I had heard Arisa mention that name a few times before when she had been prattling on and on when she should have been working. I had never really paid attention to what she had said, but if I remembered correctly, Arisa had informed me on several occasions that the designs of Hitachiin, Yuzuha were frequently featured in all the major fashion magazines. I'm sure Arisa would be envious if I told her that I had met a famous designer, this was so going to be something I could rub into her smug face in the future at work.

My train of thought was interrupted by the piercing sound of Tamaki's boisterous voice. "Haruhi! You look so cute in those clothes!" He dashed towards us like a madman with the twins tailing close behind him with his arms outstretched, tears brimming the rims of his eyes. "Daddy's been looking everywhere for you!" The volume at which that guy could yell at was simply astronomical, but it paled in comparison to my mother's ear shattering shriek.

The twins both appeared equally thrilled to see their female classmate. "Morning, Haruhi," they greeted in unison. "And Noudo-chan, you're here too!"

"Nodoka," I corrected them with a small grimace.

"What was that, Noudo-chan?"

Jerks. They just loved mocking me, didn't they?

I cursed my parents for giving me a name that was so easily made fun of.

That synchronization thing they always did was really getting on my nerves too. If they didn't like me, why couldn't they just say so? All their relentless teasing was undeniably cumbersome.

"Nothing," I said dismissively after rolling my eyes. There was no point in correcting them anymore if they weren't going to listen. Might as well not add more fuel to the fire and ignore them for now.

It was then that I noticed that the twin's mother was examining me with her curious, luminescent eyes while circling me like a hawk. I could feel her eyes studying me like I was a small organism under a microscopic lens. Finally, she stopped in front of me before pressing two of her fingers against the bottom of her chin pensively. "She isn't as lithe as Haruhi and she isn't as cute either...unless maybe you squint at her on a dark night."

I mentally groaned. There was no doubting it now, this woman was definitely the mother of those two devilish boys.

I heard the twins snickering beside me and I shot them the nastiest glare I could muster, which only seemed to make their giggling fit worse.

To add to my misfortune, Haruhi was currently too busy trying to get away from Tamaki, who was insisting that his beloved "daughter" give him a hug, to offer me any help.

"Maybe some eyeshadow will make your eyes look less murky. Also, some nice blush would certainly bring out your cheekbones and not make your face look so pale."

Whatever was left of my self esteem was completely vaporized by her critical words. Did I really look that bad? I knew I wasn't exactly drop dead gorgeous or a beauty like my sister, but the thought that I looked like some ghostly white, gray-eyed monster was rather startling.

She pinched my cheeks as she continued looking at me with her red lips pursed together. I hated feeling like my appearance was under scrutiny and that was clearly the case here. However, I bit my tongue and endured the treatment.

Yuzuha whipped her head around and focused her attention on her two sons. "Hikaru, bring me some of the outfits from my new collection. Kaoru, go fetch some makeup and hair products."

Hikaru and Kaoru obediently obeyed their mother and left the room in a hurry with identical smirks on their faces. I know exactly what they were thinking. This was such a golden opportunity to mess with me, it's doesn't take a genius to figure out why they followed what their mother said without question. I bet the thought of dressing me up, caking my face in makeup, and pulling at my hair with combs was amusing to them.

Yuzuha turned to face me again with a coy smile on her face "How would you like to try and do some modeling for me, Nodoka?"

**XXXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _Praise _by SevenDust

I'm going to have fun writing the next chapter. Harharharrrr. I got this idea from Captain Lt. RaIQ Boondock, but I'm tweaking it a bit (Tamaki still has a role to play in it concerning the "outfit" -winkwinknudgenudge-). P:

Bleh, short chapter. Is it strange that I get most of my inspiration to write between midnight and three in the morning? No wonder I feel so sleep deprived at school.

Anyway, thanks for the reviews folks! Keep 'em coming. ;D

Peace out.


	26. Little Red Dress

Episode 26 of Luckiest Loser

Little Red Dress

In gym class at school, I usually averaged a time of fourteen to fifteen seconds for the hundred yard dash. It wasn't a particularly fast time nor was it horrendously slow, but comparing those times to how fast I was sprinting down the long, seemingly endless hallways in the Hitachiin mansion, I'd have to say, and I'm trying to be modest here, that I broke a few school records at the speed I was currently going at.

I was running like I was being chased by the devil himself, which, in a way, was sort of an accurate metaphor for my current situation. Those two devious Hitachiin boys were right behind me and I could feel my legs starting to ache as I tried to stay ahead of them. I could hear them panting over my own ragged breath and the sound of my racing heart as it thundered in my head.

The very second I had seen them reappear besides their mother, one with his arms full of cosmetic products and the other holding a pile of clothes, I took off like a bullet in the opposite direction.

However, my running spree came to an end the instant I rounded a corner in the hallway and I found myself staring at a huge blank wall. Shit, a dead end.

I looked over my shoulder just as one of the twins came up behind me and pinned me to the wall rather forcefully.

"So, are you willing to comply now?" he asked with an amused smirk. His face was close enough to mine that I could see the beads of sweat sliding down his temple, at least my actions had exhausted him to some extent, but he was still a lot stronger than I was. His brother stood a few feet behind him and tapped his foot impatiently.

I wrinkled my nose. "I don't want to."

His grin grew much to my dismay. He was probably enjoying this way too much. Geez, I wonder if their mother knew that she had raised two sadistic bastards. Then, judging from my first impression of Hitachiin, Yuzuha, she probably couldn't be prouder of her two sons.

The twin that was nearest to me took off the cap of a tube of light pink lipstick and tilted my chin up with his other hand. He laughed lightly. "Stop making that face, it might smear. Even Haruhi isn't this difficult when we dress her up."

"Perhaps she's used to it?" I muttered under my breath. I couldn't imagine how someone could get used to being treated like a dress up doll, especially someone like Haruhi. I couldn't deny how cute she looked when I had seen her earlier though.

"Maybe," the twin mused as he began applying the lipstick onto my dry lips, "you should get used to it too!"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "No thanks, I think I'll pass." I was still trying to get over the last time they had thought it was a good idea to give me a makeover for the Tanabata festival. Yes, that had certainly gone well. My ex had even commented on how much more "attractive" I had looked and that kind of attention from him was the last thing I had wanted. I'm sure that in the Hitachiin mansion I was safe from Kei this time though, but I still felt incredibly uncomfortable.

I spent the next hour sitting in a chair in a parlor-like sitting room having makeup put on me while the other twin styled my hair. I was rather grateful that they didn't deem it necessary to cut it, but that didn't stop them from trimming my split ends once again.

I felt rather anxious the entire time because there weren't any mirrors so I couldn't see what they were doing to me. For all I knew, they could have been putting clown makeup on me and I wouldn't have known the difference.

Haruhi and Tamaki sat nearby on a couch near a glass coffee table that had various sweets arranged on it. Haruhi seemed to be keeping her distance from Tamaki because I noticed that she kept scooting away from him every time he inched closer towards her. It sort of made me wonder if there was anything going on between the two. Tamaki seemed a little too clueless and regarded her as his "daughter", but I couldn't help think if the whole family role play he forced upon everyone was an act or if it had a meaning behind it that he was unaware of.

I sighed. Whatever was going on between the two wasn't any of my business, it seemed like a good idea to stay out of it anyway.

Finally, the twins stepped back to admire their handiwork and gave me small mirror so I could see myself. My eyes widened a little when I saw that I could hardly recognize myself. I still wouldn't call myself beautiful or anything like that, but I definitely saw that I had a much stronger resemblance to my mother and sister than I had previously thought. It was strange how makeup could make you look so different.

They had given my hair a little bit more volume so it didn't look deadpan straight and stringy like it usually did and they had parted my bangs so my forehead was visible.

Tamaki gave me an affectionate hug. "Ah, my niece! You looks so pretty! Uncle always knew that you were a beauty in disguise!"

I dropped the mirror and it clattered to the ground as I wriggled out of his embrace. "Don't...don't say things like that..." I felt my face flush. I had never really been complimented on anything other than my baking abilities before so his words made me feel unnaturally awkward.

"All makeup does is enhance the features you already have," the twins chorused in unison.

I hunched my shoulders over like I was a meek child being scolded by an adult. Were they trying to make me feel better or were they saying that I was so incredibly plain looking and therefore I needed to "enhance" my features?

Before I could respond, their mother wheeled a rack of colorful outfits into the room with a gleeful smile on her face. I had a bad gut feeling where this was going.

"These are the outfits from my latest collection that I showcased in a fashion show last week in Paris," her voice had a lovely mellifluous flow to it. "They're also going to be featured in a catalog this week."

Tamaki drifted over to the rack and began examining the various outfits. "Daddy likes this one...and this one...this one..." He was like a little kid in a candy store, I secretly hoped that he was picking outfits out for Haruhi instead of for me since that seemed to be the most logical thing he would do.

From where I was standing, I could see that he clothing was either one solid color or had intricate designs of flowers on them. There were also a lot of gold and red colored pieces that caught my eye.

"Ah, look at this one!" He held up a purple dress with a deep plunging neckline.

Haruhi and I both simultaneously shook our heads. "No." The neckline was too revealing for me and what good was that kind of dress unless you had a fair amount of cleavage to show off?

One of the twins pulled out a two piece design consisting of medium length skirt and a blouse that looked like it wouldn't even cover my midriff even if I tried to pull it down.

I hugged my midsection in a defensive manner. "I am NOT wearing that."

"Fine, fine," he grumbled before putting it back before running a hand through his hair. "You're so picky."

"AHA!" Tamaki cried triumphantly. "This is it! Look, Haruhi! Father thinks you would be splendid in this!"

Haruhi glanced up from the piece of cake she was eating while holding a fork daintily in her hand. "I'd rather not, Tamaki-senpai."

Tamaki lowered his head in disappointment, but quickly, without missing a beat, spun around to face me. "Then how about Nodoka wears it?" He held up the silky red Chinese dress with gold trim for me to see. Well, at least it wasn't as revealing as the last two outfits, but still...I couldn't exactly imagine myself wearing it.

"Ah, that's my one piece cheongsam dress." Yuzuha said rather fondly. "It was quite popular in the show. Perhaps you would like to try it on, Noudo-chan?"

Egh, that nickname again.

I shook my head back and forth. There was absolutely no way I'd be caught dead in that thing. It was too nice for someone like me to wear.

"But uncle wants to see his niece dressed up nicely!" he protested while flailing his arms around frantically.

"I wouldn't look good in it, trust me." I grumbled with a downcast expression.

"Haha, what nonsense. Don't be so modest." Yuzuha took the dress from Tamaki and thrust it into my hands before guiding me towards a dressing room. She opened the door and gave me a friendly push inside. "Now, don't come out until you change and here's a pair of heels for you to wear." With that said, she shut the door and left me alone in the spacious changing room.

I placed the high heels on the floor and examined the dress in my hands. I ran my fingers over the fabric, it was without a doubt made out of silk. The texture was too smooth for it to be anything else. It was also such a vibrant shade of red that it reminded me of cherries.

Was it really alright for me to try this on? What if it didn't fit? What if I looked ridiculous in it? What if they all laughed?

There were certainly a lot of "what if..." questions floating around in my mind.

I changed into the dress hastily and I was pleasantly surprised to see that it fit me pretty well. I slipped on the high heels after removing my shoes then carefully folded my clothes because I thought it would be messy to just leave them scattered on the floor.

I took a deep breath before emerging from the dressing room. I felt like such a fool. This dress ended just above my knees and there was a slit on the side that almost went all the way up to my hip. Thankfully, it had short sleeves so I didn't feel like it was too revealing. Having to reveal my skinny, pasty colored legs to the world was already embarrassing enough. Why couldn't it have been longer with a smaller slit?

"WAH! Nyo-chan looks really cute!"

I froze. Was that...Hunny's voice? When did he get here?

"It's to be expected from Yuzuha-san's designs." Ah, that was Kyoya's voice. It had been a while since I had heard him speak.

I turned my head over to where the coffee table was to see that the rest of the Host Club had showed up while I had been changing.

Hunny bounded over to me zealously. "Nyo-chan, that dress really suits you!"

I raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Really?" Hunny didn't seem like the type of guy that would lie, but I still had my doubts. Also, I was wondering if anyone else was noticing the fact that I was not used to wearing high heels because I was wobbling slightly. I felt like I was going to loose my balance and fall over at any given second.

As I rubbed the back of my neck nervously while Hunny continued to reassure me that I looked fine in the dress, I saw Mori sitting on the couch with his hands resting on his knees. Usually, it was hard to see any sort of expression on his face, but today I knew just from a brief glance that there was something bothering him.

I remembered what Tamaki had told me earlier on the car ride over to the twin's mansion.

_"Mori-senpai's been a bit clumsy lately." _

Could there possibly be a correlation between his clumsiness and his troubled expression?

Once again, I heard Tamaki's voice ringing in my head.

_"Perhaps he's worried, he acted like this before when Hunny-senpai had a cavity a while ago." _

Naturally, I was very curious now. Just seeing him had piqued my interest in the matter some more.

"Nyo-chan? Are you alright?" Hunny asked as he blinked cutely at me.

"Eh?" I returned my attention to him.

"What are you thinking about?"

I folded my arms across my chest stubbornly. "Nothing." From the corners of my eyes I stared at the other members of the Host Club who were busy eating cookies and talking to Yuzuha. Mori, on the other hand, sat silently on the end of the couch with his eyes focused on nothing in particular. "It's nothing," I repeated unnecessarily.

"Noudo-chan! Can you pose for me?" Yuzuha asked as she held a digital camera in her finely manicured hands.

I pulled at the hem of the dress nervously. "I don't really know how to pose..."

"Just twirl around and look happy," she said cheerfully.

What wonderfully vague instructions, I thought with a small scowl. At least this was an opportunity to avoid being honest with Hunny about what I was really thinking about, but I didn't truly want to comply with Yuzuha's instructions. Great, not only was I going to be an idiot in a dress, but I was going to be an idiot _spinning_ around in a dress.

The instant I started to turn on my heel I immediately fell over. I made a quick mental note for the future: high heels and spinning don't mix. Unfortunately, when I had toppled over, I had also managed to take Hunny down with me. It was a complete accident, of course.

Mori was already kneeling down beside us before I could even utter a single apologetic sentence to the unlucky blond boy.

"I'm fine, Takashi," Hunny said, "Nyo-chan just isn't used to wearing high heels, ne?"

I nodded slowly. "It's a bit hard to walk in them," I admitted ruefully. "I'm sorry, I should be more careful."

Yuzuha heaved a sigh and frowned. "I guess we can't use you as a model either even though you look so cute."

"I-I'm sorry..." I didn't really understand why I was apologizing to her, but I guess it just slipped out through my lips on its own. Was it a bad thing that I was so used to people being disappointed in me?

"Noudo-chan and Haruhi both lack a good sense of rhythm and movement," one of the twins, I still couldn't tell if it was Hikaru or Kaoru, supplied with a nonchalant shrug.

"Heels also make doing those things increasingly difficult," I added sullenly. I was still sitting on the floor, it was safer than standing up at least. Hunny was next to me on his hands and knees while Mori was crouched down on one knee and loomed over us in a protective manner.

"Um, Yuzuha-san? Can I change out of this now?" For some reason, being near Mori was making me feel very self conscious about the dress I was wearing.

"Sure, sure. Do want to wear a different outfit to the amusement park?" she pressed in a perky voice. I had a feeling she was definitely in her element right now.

"No thanks," I replied quickly as I carefully stood up and made my way back to the changing room. As soon as I closed the door, I sank down to the ground with my back against the wall and buried my face in my hands.

I can't believe he saw me dressed up like this! Why did I have to give in so readily to the twins instead of putting up more of a fight?

All I could think about as I changed out of cheongsam was how Mori must think of me now. There's no way I could've looked "cute". Calling me, a seventeen-year-old, "cute" was like saying I looked like a child. Maybe they couldn't think of anything better or nicer to say?

I grumbled to myself a bit more over the topic of being "cute" as I pulled my sweatshirt on over my head before buttoning up my jeans. My feet were sore from wearing the high heels and they ached as I slipped on my sneakers.

When I finished tying my shoe laces, I carefully put the red cheongsam dress back on its hanger and vowed that I would never wear something like it ever again.

I brushed some stray bangs away from my eyes as I left the changing room. The parlor room was dead quiet now and I saw that the food that had been on the coffee table had been meticulously cleaned off, there wasn't even a crumb visible on the glass surface.

Where the heck did everyone go?

The clothing rack of Yuzuha's designs were still there so I put the dress back with utmost care, it looked expensive and I didn't want to have to pay for if I accidentally left it in a place where it could be ruined.

I squeaked loudly when I felt someone gently put their hand on my shoulder. I whipped around to see that Mori was standing behind me. Had he been waiting for me this whole time?

He removed his hand from my shoulder and placed it on his hip. "Sorry."

"Mori, you're still here?" I was somewhat relieved that I hadn't been completely abandoned, although, I wasn't expecting him to be waiting for me and I felt somewhat silly asking him such a question. I didn't know whether to feel alleviated that he would actually wait for me or guilty for making him wait so long.

"Mitsukuni asked me to wait for you," he responded simply.

That made sense, Mori usually did whatever Hunny asked him without question. Or at least, I always got the impression from watching them that that was the case.

"Is everyone getting ready to leave then?"

"Ah." I figured that was Mori-speak for "yes".

Now, with everyone else gone, was a good opportunity to talk to him. But what if he thought I was being too nosy? What if the thing that was troubling him wasn't any of my business?

Before I had fully realized what I was doing, I had reached my hand out and tugged at his sleeve. "Mori?"

He paused mid-step and looked over his shoulder at me with his eyebrows slightly raised as if my action had taken him by surprise.

I fidgeted as I slowly released the fabric of his shirt and dropped my hand to my side. My whole body felt tense and my heart was beating furiously. I wanted to hit myself in the forehead. Why was just asking him what was wrong so difficult for me? It was ridiculous that I was having this much trouble talking to him and it was even more ridiculous that all I could think about at time like this was how he thought I looked in the red dressed designed by Yuzuha-san.

"Erm...uh..." All knowledge that I had of the Japanese language seemed to be slipping away from me and fading into obscurity in the back of my mind. I couldn't even form a sentence or a single word without stammering like an incompetent fool. My face began feeling warm so, in an effort to hide my flushed face from his view, I covered my cheeks with my hands. It didn't make much of a difference because of all the makeup the twins had put on me, I doubt anyone would notice with the amount of blush that I had on that my cheeks were turning a light shade of pink due to the blood rushing to my face.

Mori stood motionless in the middle of the parlor with me. It was impossible for me to guess what he was thinking at the moment. His face was stoic and calm, like always. However, I had a notion that there was indeed something going on in that head of his despite his constant indifferent disposition.

I sighed and diverted my eyes away from him. This was just too hard for me to do right now. "It's nothing," I managed to say in a quiet, muffled voice after a few uneasy minutes of strained silence. I seemed to be using that phrase a lot today. I lowered my eyelids and I could feel my eyes brimming with tears. This was stupid, so why did I feel like crying over it?

Luckily, I didn't have time to dwell on my pathetic inability to adequately communicate with Mori because Tamaki came bursting into the room and nearly unhinged the door in the process of doing so.

"Nodoka, do you want to ride in the Rolls Royce with uncle again?"

I nearly flung myself at Tamaki. Anything would make me content to get out of this sticky situation, even walking on nails would be preferable to the tension that hung in the room between Mori and myself.

As I followed Tamaki out of the room, I heard Mori's heavy footsteps behind me and I briefly glanced over my shoulder at the senior. He had that unfocused look in his eyes again and I began wishing that I had had the courage to ask what was wrong just a few short minutes ago.

Man, I was such an idiot. That troubling scene replayed itself over and over in my mind as I got into the car with Tamaki, Haruhi and Kyoya.

If only I had asked him at that moment. I would've even been satisfied with a one word answer from him at this point.

**XXXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _Filth in the Beauty _by The Gazette

Must...move...romance...along...D:

The gang's going to hit the amusement park next chapter. Mmhmmm, fun times coming up. I'm half tempted to write an interaction between Nodoka and a sleepy Mori.

Peace out.


	27. Knowing That You Care

Sorry for the delay, folks. I've been busy. D:

**XXXXXX**

Episode 27 of Luckiest Loser

Knowing That You Care

"You know, not every girl can pull off a ponytail, Noudo-chan..."

"It's my hair, I'll do what I want with it," I hissed bitterly. "Besides, it's windy and it keeps getting in my face." Wasn't that reason enough for a girl to tie back her hair? Aesthetic appeal was the last thing on my mind.

"But we spent so long making it look nice down and you go put it up in a ponytail."

I scowled darkly at the twins. "Stop making such a fuss over it."

I had been bickering with them ever since we had arrived at the amusement park almost fifteen minutes ago and even while we had been waiting in line to buy entrance tickets. It was a bit windy so I had decided to pull my hair back into a ponytail, which was something they were vehemently opposed to. I didn't understand what the big deal was, all I wanted to do was prevent strands of hair from blowing in front of my eyes.

"I think it looks cute that way," Hunny chimed in. "Ne, Takashi?"

"Ah."

I put a hand up in front of my face to hide my blush from view. However, I wasn't quick enough and one of the twins leaned forward so we were almost nose to nose.

"What's wrong with your face, Noudo-chan?"

"It's nothing," I affirmed as I tried to walk around him, but his brother blocked me.

"But your face is bright red like a beet, Noudo-chan."

Argh, again with that stupid nickname...

"It's Nodoka," I said in a firm tone.

"You'll always be Noudo-chan to us," the twins said as identical devilish smirks pulled at the corners of their lips.

One of my eyebrows twitched at their snide little comment, but I managed to retain my composure and resisted the urge to fire something back at them. I wasn't that immature to stoop to their level of name calling.

Luckily for me, they finally got bored pestering me and migrated over to Haruhi to persuade her to go on this roller coaster with them that had more twists and turns than one of those complex mazes you find in newspapers on Sunday mornings.

"That looks dangerous," Haruhi noted with a raised brow.

"It will be fun!" they chorused together before pulling her into the line.

I surveyed my surroundings with a critical eye. There were certainly many children here with their parents, any teenagers that I saw looked they like were on dates instead of coming in a big group like I had. I could smell the sickly sweet scent of cotton candy and buttered popcorn wafting through the air. Colorful balloons and banners were hung everywhere and I felt like I might have a seizure from all the flashing lights. It was a typical amusement park with rides, games, and junk food every which way you happened to look, not that I had been expecting anything else, but it was rather daunting and I felt a bit too old to be in a place like this. It definitely gave off that childish vibe that I usually tended to avoid whenever possible.

Tetsushi would probably like it here. I made a brief mental to take him here sometime in the future to atone for being such a wretched sister to him all the time.

Then there were the clowns...I've always hated clowns. Their white makeup with bright red rosy cheeks and huge red noses had frightened me ever since I was a child. I vividly remembered one time when I was very young, one clown tried to hand me a balloon and as soon as he got near me I started screaming bloody murder. I hid behind my sister as I cried my eyes out until the clown retreated and handed another child the balloon that had been intended for me. It took my sister two hours and three ice cream cones to calm me down. I was thankful that I hadn't been with my mother at that time. I'm sure she would have nearly disowned me if I ever made such a vulgar scene like that in front of her.

I suppose that back then I had trouble dealing with things that seemed unsettling and disturbing to me. Maybe that's why my mother had some issues with me, I hadn't exactly been the easiest child to manage when I was little and maybe now she was still venting all those years of frustration at me by comparing me to my sister and minimizing all of my accomplishments. She was just irrational enough to do that to me.

I shook those thoughts off, it wouldn't do me any good to think about those kinds of things now.

I was at an amusement park and I was planning to use this as a golden opportunity to escape my insane mother and the madness of my personal life for a day. Perhaps I would have some fun, too.

"Eh, Nyo-chan?" Hunny tugged on my sleeve.

"Yeah?" I glanced down at the small blond.

"What do you want to do first?"

I scratched the back of my neck, feeling caught off guard by the question. I wasn't anticipating that anyone was going to ask me what I wanted to do today. I had every intention to go along with the flow of things so I didn't know quite how to respond without sounding too disinterested.

"A ride, I guess."

Hunny beamed at me. "What kind?"

I clasped my hands together and glanced up at Mori who was standing right behind the small blond. He still had that unfocused look in his eyes as he stared off into space at nothing in particular. Did he even want to be here? It seemed like the only reason he decided to come was because of Hunny.

After sighing, I returned my attention back towards Hunny who was anxiously waiting for an answer from me. "I don't really have a preference."

"How about the carousel then?" he asked excitedly.

"The carousel?" My eyelids fluttered dumbly. Weren't we all too old for that kind of ride? Then again, considering Hunny's small stature and preference for cute things, the suggestion suited him just fine.

Mori grunted in approval.

"What about the others?" I looked back to see that Tamaki, who was determined not to leave Haruhi alone with the twins, had chased after them in pursuit to protect his daughter. Out of the corner of my eye I spied Kyoya trying to sit inconspicuously at a small coffee shop, sipping a cup of black coffee. He probably didn't want to be associated with any of us.

Hunny took my hand and pulled me forward towards the carousel. It was pretty traditional as far as carousels went, I had seen some with different kinds of animals other than horses and multiple levels. It looked safe, which was the most important thing, because I didn't know whether I had the ability to stomach going on a roller coaster.

Mori helped Hunny up onto one of the horses before picking me up abruptly and situating me on a horse next to the small blond senior. I wanted to point out that what he had done wasn't necessary because I was perfectly capable of getting on the ride myself, but his action had left me extremely flustered and at a loss for words.

I gripped the metal pole that connected the horse to the carousel with both hands as the ride lurched forward to begin its circular route. My horse glided easily up and down the pole as the tinkering sound of typical carousel music played.

I caught a glimpse of Mori, who was, much to my surprise and amusement, sitting on a horse behind Hunny while appearing placid. The scene of seeing the tall senior on a little kid's ride where his feet could easily touch the rotating wooden planked floor beneath us was entertaining to me. If I took my feet out of the stirrups then they would still be hovering about a foot or two above the floor and the same could be said for Hunny. Poor Mori was clearly too big in stature for this, which was all the more wickedly amusing to me.

Our eyes met and I had to quickly whip my head back around to hide my bemused facial expression from him. I hunched my shoulders over and bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing.

"Nyo-chan, what's so funny?" Hunny asked over the tinkling music.

I grinned at him. "Nothing, I like this ride though. Good choice." A giggle escaped my lips and Hunny continued starring at me with his brows knitted together in confusion.

Once the carousel slowed down to a stop, Hunny dismounted energetically off of his horse. "What should we do next?"

I carefully swung my leg over the horse and stepped down. "I haven't had lunch yet, I know we just got here, but can we get something to eat?"

I don't think Hunny understood that when I said I wanted lunch that ice cream wasn't exactly what I had had in mind. I was imaging something more along the lines of a salad or a hot dog and a beverage. So, when I found myself standing with Hunny and Mori right in front of an ice cream vendor, I didn't know how to tell Hunny that ice cream wasn't a nutritional lunch. I suppose "lunch" in Hunny's mind meant something else entirely different than what a normal person would think.

"What flavor to you want, Nyo-chan? My treat!"

I hesitated. I wasn't used to being treated, Kei certainly hadn't done anything this nice for me even when he had been acting sweet at the beginning of the relationship. I wanted to punch myself. Now wasn't the time to think about that guy! I was trying to forget him, not let such memories linger on.

"Nyo-chan, what flavor?"

"Vanilla, please." I smiled lightly at the blond.

"We'll have two single scoops of vanillas and a triple scoop of chocolate in sugar cones!" Hunny held up three fingers to the ice cream clerk.

A few minutes later, the three of us were sitting at a table eating ice cream. This is definitely not what I had in mind for lunch, but I didn't complain. Hunny appeared to be having a good time and I was feeling rather content myself.

"I wonder what the others are up to," Hunny said absentmindedly.

"I'm sure they're having fun," I reasoned. "Tamaki and the twins seem like the fun seeking types, although, I'm concerned about how Haruhi might be handling them. I know she has years of experience dealing with her father's enthusiasm, but all three of those guys at once is kind of overwhelming."

Hunny jumped to his feet after Mori wiped some smudges of chocolate ice cream off the corners of his mouth with a napkin. "I'm going to go look for them, we all should do some stuff together while at the amusement park, ne?"

Mori leaned forward, a flash of concern crossed his face. "Mitsukuni."

"Don't worry, I'll be right back!" Hunny assured us, cutely grinning ear to ear. "Takashi, be sure to keep an eye on Nyo-chan while I'm gone."

"Ah." I think I was becoming quite fluent in Mori-speak because I knew that that meant "yes" instantly.

I licked my ice cream worriedly as I watched Hunny run off with his own ice cream cone in hand. His behavior just now seemed unusually suspicious. He seemed like he was in such a hurry and looking for any excuse to leave us.

Yes, it was absolutely suspicious, I thought as I stared down hard at my ice cream cone.

We eventually moved over to a nearby concession stand because being seated for so long had caused my leg to cramp and I needed to stand up to alleviate the pain. Also, there had been a family with a few young looking children who were searching for a table to have their lunch at and it didn't seem right that two people were using a table meant for four to six people.

Mori and I ate our ice cream quietly, occasionally I would make an offbeat comment about the nice weather or about how tasty the ice cream was. Eventually, due to his lack of response, I gave up trying to make small talk. I didn't mind the silence between us though, just being in his presence had a soothing effect on me, much like the euphoric feeling I got from baking.

I finished my ice cream and ate what was left of the sugar cone, making a lot of loud crunching sounds as I chewed it. I licked the little drips of vanilla ice cream off of my fingers before turning my head to look up at Mori, who had finished his ice cream well before me. He had that strange glazed look in his eyes again. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. My heart was pounding and I could feel my pulse racing throughout my body.

"Mori," I began quietly, "is something wrong?"

For a second I thought that he hadn't heard me over the screaming little children and other excess noise around us. However, as soon as he tilted his head down to stare at me I realized that he had indeed heard my question despite how softly I had uttered it.

"Mori?" I repeated his name, hoping for a response. "I'm sure Hunny will find them soon so there's no need to be worried about him."

He was still for a minute or two, his eyes intently locked with mine. This was the most engaged he had seemed all day, but there was something in his pensive expression that made me feel anxious.

He rubbed the back of his neck and shoved his other hand into his pants pocket.

"How is your knee?"

I blinked. What kind of reply was that when I was worried about his well-being? I was about to persist that this wasn't about me and that he shouldn't change the topic, but I bit my tongue. If he didn't want to talk about what was bothering him with me then it probably wasn't my place to pry.

We stood in complete silence as ten long minutes ticked by with no sign of Hunny. Was he having trouble finding them? Or was he up to something else?

"We should probably go look for them as well before Tamaki sends out an entire search party for us," I sighed, walking in the direction where I thought the entrance of the amusement park would be. I was getting tired of waiting.

Mori simply nodded and shadowed closely behind me. I could hear his heavy footsteps as he followed me. Why was I having this weird notion that he was intentionally trying to keep some distance between him and myself?

I balled my hands into fists and picked up my walking pace. I felt annoyed and slightly hurt that after all the help he and Hunny had given over the past months that he wouldn't talk to me when he was having problems. Weren't we friends? Or was that just wishful thinking on my part? Did I seem that unreliable?

A part of me couldn't blame him though, if I was having issues I would be the last person I would want help from as well. My personal life was in shambles, my mother was as irate as ever, my ex-boyfriend was a psychotic, obsessive lunatic, and I couldn't even handle having a crush on someone.

The only thing that was remotely positive that I had going for me was the fact that my grades weren't as terrible as they used to be. Oh, and baking, my one and only talent. But what good would that do me if my mother wasn't going to let me attend culinary school in order to make a solid career for myself?

My thoughts veered back towards Mori. He went to one of the most prestigious schools in the entire country, he was probably far more intelligent than I could ever hope to be, he grew up surrounded by wealth, he was considerate and kind, and it was hard not to notice how handsome he was.

The more I thought about it, the more it became obvious that he was way out of my league. After all, what could someone like him possibly see in me? I'm definitely not someone who matches him.

I was so wrapped up in my own sordid thoughts and inattentive to my surroundings, particularly where I was stepping, that I nearly had a heart attack when I felt someone put their arm around my waist and pull me back against their chest.

I could sense a deep red blush creeping across my face when I realized that the person who had pulled me back was Mori.

"Watch your step," he muttered solemnly.

"What do you-" I stopped when I dropped my gaze to the ground to see what looked like red and blue vomit only a couple of feet away from where Mori and I were standing. It took me a few seconds to recognize the oddly colored concoction was actually a cherry and blueberry flavored snow cone that someone had dropped. The little chunks of flavored ice were half melted and it occurred to me that if I had stepped on it I would probably have slipped, which I had a horrible track record of actually doing.

Something clicked inside of my head at that moment. _I could have slipped. _But Mori had pulled me away before that happened. He had anticipated it, hadn't he? Was that why he was walking behind me this whole time?

"Mori, the thing you're worried about..." I paused, my hands clutched his arm that was secured around my waist. "The thing that's bothering you...is me?" It made sense now why he had asked about my knee after I had asked him what was wrong. He had been implying in his own indiscreet way that he was worried about me.

At least, that's what I think was going on here.

His arm that was placed around my waist loosened a bit.

"Yes."

Mori's settle response made my face turn a bright shade of red in embarrassment. A strange mixture of emotion was washing over me, I was embarrassed, but I was also...really happy. Hearing him say that one little word meant that he did care about me on some level. He really was on a different level than me, I could never match him in terms of kindness and consideration.

"Nodoka-chan! Mori-senpai! There you two are!" Tamaki suddenly came sprinting into view followed by the rest of the host club members. His arms were flailing about as his face held a look of exhaustion and relief. As he neared us, I could see the beads of sweat sliding down his forehead and I could hear him panting heavily in an effort to catch his breath. "We've been looking everywhere for you guys!"

I felt Mori's arm slowly slide off of my waist.

"Hunny-senpai, you said they were at the other end of the park!" one of the twins said accusingly.

Hunny rubbed the back of his neck innocently. "Oh, I did?"

I stole a glance over my shoulder at the tall senior. He ran a hand through his black hair, I had a strange feeling he was avoiding my gaze. But there was something strange about his stance and facial expression, for some reason I was getting a sense that he was feeling more awkward than myself at the moment. His eyes looked like they were glazed over as if he was intently mulling over something in his head.

"I was about to call the police!" Tamaki cried as he embraced me in a bone crunching hug. "Hunny-sempai kept leading us in the wrong direction!"

"You're squeezing too hard!" I put my hands on his shoulders and pushed him away. "Quit treating me like a child, we're the same age for crying out loud!" As much as Tamaki had grown on me during the past few days he still was capable of being incredibly annoying. However, at the moment, I was more peeved at him for barging in and ruining my moment with Mori when it finally seemed like we were getting somewhere.

"Why are you glaring at me? Are you angry? Upset? Nodoka-chan, tell uncle what's wrong!"

I bit my bottom lip and remained silent.

Was I angry? Upset? No, of course not. I just felt like giving Tamaki a good hard smack on the back of his head.

One of the twins pressed his index finger against my cheek. "Your face is red again, Noudo-chan."

I felt my body stiffen temporarily before I reached up and swatted his hand away. "Can you stop pointing that out to me?" I mumbled dryly.

My eyes shifted from the twin to Mori and Hunny who were conversing a few feet away. It was kind of funny seeing those two together with Hunny being as short as he was. Mori towered over him, but, then again, he was taller than most people I knew.

"Did you have fun with Nyo-chan, Takashi?"

"Yeah."

"What did you two do?"

"Ice cream."

I put a hand over my mouth to suppress a giggle. I remembered that at first I had found Mori's silence and conciseness to be agitating, but now it just seemed so darn cute.

One of the twins pinched my cheek. "Her face is even redder than it was before."

"Hmmm?" They both gave me quizzical looks before following my gaze with their eyes.

I saw them smirk deviously at one another before shifting their attention back to me. I didn't like the look in their eyes one bit. A mental image of Hikaru and Kaoru with devil horns, pitchforks, and surrounded by flames popped into my head. It seemed horribly relevant to how I was feeling about them right now. They were definitely devils of some sort.

"What's with that look?" I sputtered as I backpedaled away from them. I could feel little globules of sweat rolling down my temple as the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

"You like Mori-senpai, don't you?"

"It's written all over your face."

I felt like I was falling into an endless black pit. Of all people to find out, why did it have to be them? Did I do something wrong in a past life to deserve this kind of torment?

They both snickered as I stood with my feet rooted in place, my body frozen, and my eyes wide like saucers.

I had a terribly painful gut feeling that this was a bad development.

**XXXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration-_ London Calling_ by The Clash

I'm holding out on the sleepy Mori scenario. I think if I pulled that out too soon I would break Nodoka's brain. And I apologize if some Host Club members aren't getting enough screen time in this. -coughcoughKyoyacoughcough- I guess Nodoka doesn't pay any attention to him because she finds him intimidating. Anyway, there was progress in this chapter, yes?

In other news, this story is a year old. I should probably start wrapping things up so I can finish this soon before I get bored with this story and start neglecting it...

Oh, and don't worry, the day at the amusement park isn't over yet. There's still a bit more. Poor Nodoka, she's having another long day, isn't she? P:

Peace out.


	28. Foolish

Yeah, I left you guys hanging for a little while, didn't I? Writer's block sucks like that. Hopefully, they'll find a cure for it soon. D:

**XXXXXX**

Episode 28 of Luckiest Loser

Foolish

I opened my mouth as if to scream, but no sound came out as the rest of my face was frozen in pure horror.

Of all the things that could've happened today, this was probably the worst thing I could have ever envisioned. I had to pinch my cheek to make sure this wasn't a nightmare. My cheek stung as I pinched it, making me slightly wince in pain; there was no mistaking that this was real now.

I felt the urge to pull a Tamaki. I desperately wanted to crouch down low in a corner and cry, but my pride wouldn't permit myself to act that shamelessly in public.

The twins loomed over me with their identical smug faces.

I diverted my eyes away from their gazes and looked ahead. The others were too far away and too distracted by carnival games to notice that I was in trouble and in desperate need to be saved.

"So," I began, trying to sound casual while avoiding their mischievously gleaming eyes, "you find it fun to torture young girls who have innocent crushes?" Okay, maybe my tone of voice wasn't as casual as I had intended it to be. I was also secretly appalled by how much I had sounded like Tamaki with the way I had phrased that question. Good grief, that guy was rubbing off on me.

"It passes the time," one of the twins shrugged.

"That's not a very nice thing to say," I muttered bitterly. Punching them square in the face wouldn't satisfy me at this point. It seemed so twisted to me that they got their amusement out of making other people squirm.

Just ignore them, I thought to myself, they just want you to freak out or something. They were doing a good job at it, though.

What did they have in mind for me now? Blackmail and extortion? Would they tease me endlessly for my hapless crush? Would they tell the others? Would they tell Mori?

The thought of the all the countless possible things they could do to humiliate me made me feel nauseous. I could taste the contents of my stomach in the back of my throat already, stinging and burning my esophagus as it inched upward before eventually receding back down. I covered my mouth with one of my hands as a precaution just in case I did end up throwing up. The last thing I wanted to do at a moment like this was vomit in the middle of an amusement park right in front of two guys who held my fate in their hands. Although, it would serve them right if I managed to throw up on their fancy designer clothes.

"Nyo-chan, are you feeling alright? Your face is green." Hunny was standing beside me now while holding a large blue, fuzzy stuffed bear that he had probably won from one of the carnival games. It was so big he had to use both of his hands to carry it, which made him look all the more tiny and endearing.

I nodded slowly, but I didn't take my eyes off the twins. I had a feeling they weren't through me yet.

Hunny continued to stare at me with a worried gaze.

"I feel fine," I reassured him, trying to stay calm. I took my hand away from my mouth and lowered it to my side as I shuffled my feet. I really hated lying to him, but I didn't want him to make him worry about me.

My answer seemed to brighten him up. "Nyo-chan, do you want to go on another ride with Takashi and me?"

"That would be fun..." I trailed off as I heard the footsteps of the twins advancing closer to me. My face paled instantaneously.

"Actually, Hunny-senpai," the twins draped their arms over my shoulders, "Noudo-chan promised she'd hang out with us for a while. Right?"

Their arms felt like snakes that were binding my body to the spot so I couldn't move away from them.

"Yeah..." I said in a dazed voice. I really wanted to cling to Hunny and beg him to save me from the two devils, but I was too worried about them divulging my little secret. Then again, I'm pretty sure Hunny already knew about my crush, but I didn't want them to say anything while we were in the earshot of the others.

Hunny looked a little crestfallen at my response as he pouted his lips and furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, okay..."

His cute, dejected face was almost too much for me to take, it should be a crime for him to act so cute! I wanted to hug him...

"C'mon, Noudo-chan!"

"Let's go!"

They were way too cheerful about this whole thing.

"But-"

I didn't have any other choice then to let the twins drag me away. A little voice in my head was screaming at me to protest and struggle against this abuse, but I was too much of a coward to do so. It was at times like these that I really wished that I had a backbone to stick up for myself.

I watched sadly as Hunny and the other Host Club member's became smaller and smaller as the twins pulled me further and further away until the crowd became so thick that I couldn't see them anymore.

What had I ever done to deserve something like this? I was a good kid, right? Sure, I was never the model student or prefect daughter that my parents expected me to be, but that didn't mean that I had to endure this! I think I could feel my soul drifting away...

"Get us some cotton candy, Noudo-chan!"

"Don't forget the soda!"

Bastards, I could tell just by glancing at the pleased grins on their faces that they were relishing the fact that they had turned me into their petty errand dog. At first I thought that they would try to take me on some rides, but, as it turned out, all they had in mind for me was to make me run around the amusement park like a headless chicken while they barked orders at me.

Ordering me around like I'm some servant, what did they think gave them this the right to do treat me like this?

Needles to say, I got tired of it pretty fast.

"You look worn out," one of the twins noted as I sat across from them after slamming the tray filled with their food down onto the table.

"Shut up," I muttered darkly as I propped my elbow up on the table and rested my chin in the palm of my hand. I watched as one of the twins took a sip of his soda. _I hope you choke on it. _Alas, that was only wishful thinking on my part. They were probably too classy to die like that anyway.

I glowered at them as they ate as I wiped the beads of sweat off of my forehead with my forearm. I was past the point of exhaustion and I was clearly grumpy.

"Are you really that upset?" one of them asked, visibly irritated.

I folded my arms across my chest stubbornly. I was the one who was supposed to be annoyed here, not him. "Of course."

"Why?" they inquired in unison.

"What do you mean why? It's because you two are blackmailing me!"

They exchanged amused glances with one another.

"We never said that..."

"...we would tell anyone."

My jaw dropped and I could feel my face flush from embarrassment. "Wait, are you serious? You mean to tell me that the two of you were messing with me this whole time?" I as standing up and leaning forward with my knuckles on the table to keep my balance.

"Pretty much."

I didn't know whether to be angry or extremely relieved. I had been played for as a fool and they had manipulated me with such little effort. Yeah, I felt pretty worthless and stupid as this discovery dawned on me. They had merely been toying with me...and I had so easily fallen into their trap. I wanted to bang my head repeatedly against the table, but I feared doing that might cause me further brain damage. I needed all the brain cells I could get at this point.

After getting over the initial shock, I sank back down into my chair. I couldn't tell if they were being nice by saying that they hadn't intended on telling anyone or they were just teasing me some more and I was too tired to care. Where did Haruhi get the energy to deal with these two on a daily basis?

"I want to die..." I groaned as I ran my hands over my face.

"You can only blame yourself for falling for such an obvious trap," a twin reprimanded me with one of his eyebrows arched. "The problem with you is that you have no self-esteem whatsoever so it's easy for people to push you around."

"Excuse me for having a docile personality then," I said meekly. I expected them to mock me, not to scold me like like I was a two-year-old.

"And don't apologize when people are criticizing you, it's annoying."

I shrank in my seat. "Okay..." I had some vague idea that my tendency to be weak natured bothered others, but, up until now, no one had ever brashly confronted me or had been so honest with me about it. Were they trying to encourage me or were they still mocking me?

I abruptly stood up. Enough was enough. I had to get away from these two. I could feel my breath hitching in my throat. "Look, I know I'm not brave or anything like that, but at least I don't go out of my way to tease other people."

I didn't bother waiting for a response as I turned quickly on my heels and stomped away. I didn't want to hear anything else they had to say about me. I was so sick of criticism. I already get enough of it from my parents for crying out loud!

The nerve and the gall those two had! What did they think other people were? Toys? And to think Haruhi was friends with them! What could she possibly see in them?

After a while of aimless walking, my feet began to ache and I was sure that there were some blisters forming on the soles of my feet. I didn't think I was capable of taking another step, I was going to collaspe soon. I'm not sure how long I had been walking around the amusement park, but the sky was dark now. I could see the stars glittering overhead and the the ghostly white thin sliver of the moon hanging in the night sky. I didn't have a watch on me so I had absolutely no clue what time it was, but finding out what time it was happened to be the least of my worries.

My face was flushed from trying to deal with all the turmoil and confusion concerning the twins. Did they like me or did they hate me? Were they trying to help me or were they just being jerks?

"I don't care anymore," I huffed angrily to myself as I kicked a piece of trash on the ground, "those two can do whatever they want."

I placed my hands on my hips as I walked as I navigated my way through the crowd, being extremely careful not to bump into anyone.

I paused briefly when I spied a familiar face out of the corner of my eye. It was Mori and he was standing by himself. His tall figure stood at least a head or two above everyone else around him and he was looking as stoic as usual. It seemed silly, but I was beginning to like his unique mannerism more and more each time I studied him.

I debated in my head for several minutes whether or not I should go over to to him, but before I could make up my mind he had seen me and had raised his hand halfway in the air to wave at me.

I bit my lip, it was too late to walk away now and pretend that I hadn't seen him.

Hesitantly, I went over to him. I could already feel the uneasiness swelling within me. My hand clung to the fabric of my sweatshirt near my heart as I stopped in front of him.

"Where is everyone else?" It seemed odd that Mori would be alone like this. As soon as I had spotted him I figured that Hunny would be around close by, but the small blond was nowhere to be seen as were the other members of the Host Club. Strange, I thought, very strange.

Mori peered over his shoulder. "They went on that."

I sidestepped around him so I could see what he was indicating to since even when I stood up on my tippy toes I was unable to see over his broad shoulder.

"The roller coaster?" I titled my head to the side dumbly. For some reason, I imagined that the Host Club would have a hard time getting Haruhi and Kyoya to agree to such a thing. I'm sure that Tamaki probably pleaded and begged them until they got so tired of his whining that they agreed to it.

I turned back towards Mori. "You don't like roller coasters?" Or was it that he didn't care for them?

He tilted his head down and gazed at me with a passive expression. "That's not it."

I fidgeted and put my hands behind my back. Were we actually having a conversation? Sure, he was barely speaking in complete sentences, but this was a definite improvement compared to our past interactions. His unwavering gaze did make me feel self-conscious after a few seconds though. Unlike most people, his eyes, although most of the time they looked void of emotion, had a keen piercing and analytical vibe to them when they were focused.

I watched him as he sat down on the bench a few feet away from myself. He rested his hands on his knees, which I began to notice was his usual way of sitting.

"Can I sit here?" I asked nervously as I edged towards the bench. I inwardly cringed when I realized that I had said, "Can I..." instead of, "May I...". Oh great, not only was I a nervous wreck, but I was also acting rude. My mother would make my ears bleed with her banshee-like screech if she was here right now to scold me.

"Ah." He buried his hands in his pants pockets after scooting over in order to make room for me to sit next to him.

"Thank you," I mumbled shyly, bowing. I could feel the heat rising to my face and I was thankful that it was to dark for him to see the blush deepening on my cheeks. I sat down on the bench, my hands were trembling.

I decided to focus my attention on something that would distract me from the fact that I was sitting less than a foot away from him.

The white lights on the ferris wheel caught my attention immediately. The bright lights extended from the middle out to the sides of the ride, like strings of large white, shining beads. As the ride moved, it reminded me somewhat of a pinwheel, but on a much larger scale.

The others were probably having fun right now and I'm sure the people on the ferris wheel had an amazing view of all the lights from the amusement park and city. I was only a bit envious, but I was enjoying the silent company Mori offered too much to really care one way or another.

"The ferris wheel is really pretty at night, isn't it?" I observed quietly as I hugged my knees into my chest. Egh, crap. I didn't mean to say that aloud. I probably looked like a silly idiot on a bench now, dammit.

"Ah," he grunted in reply. It was another "yes" in Mori-speak.

My eyes widened a bit and I blushed furiously, every sound he made seemed to make the butterflies in my stomach go crazy with delight. I refused to look at him as my fingernails dug into my denim jeans, my pulse was racing. I still wasn't used to the effect that he had on me and I had to strain myself to keep a straight face.

Today I had survived being kidnapped by Tamaki, the twin's mother, a red dress, and I had narrowly escaped what I thought was an attempt at blackmail. However, being able to sit next to Mori made most of the events today seem trivial in comparison.

I breathed a long sigh of relief before smiling, but I couldn't deny that I was still consumed by anxious anticipation.

I liked him so much, just sitting beside him was enough to make my heart feel like it was about to explode. Was it normal to feel this way when you liked someone? It was a warm feeling, but there was also something slightly painful about it. The thought of rejection loomed over my head like a dark cloud without a silver lining.

He had always been so nice to me and I had never been able to repay him for that. He had never pried about Kei either, which was something I was thankful for. All I could do in return for all the times he had gone out of his way to help me was say "thank you" over and over again.

I rolled my teeth over my bottom lip. My heart pounded and my hands felt damp and puffy.

At that moment, I had planned on telling him that I was grateful for everything he had done, but, instead of saying something cheesy like that, a sentence came out of my mouth that I hadn't intended to say for a very long time.

"I really like you, Takashi."

**XXXXXX**

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!

Musical Inspiration- _Voyager _by LYV (omfg, they rocked MusicFest at Fanime Con)

Peace out.


	29. Her Mistake

Chapter 29 of Luckiest Loser

Her Mistake

_I fought the urge to smack myself in the head. Did I really just say that out loud? Why on earth were those the words that slipped out of my mouth? I had even called him by his first name! What the heck was wrong with me? It wasn't like me to be the type to throw all common sense out the window and say something like that, no matter how true it was. Then again, I've had a few embarrassing slip ups in the past..._

_"Nodoka," his voice was deep and calm. He lowered his eyelids as he faced me and I remembered thinking he looked absolutely gorgeous with one side of his face illuminated by the lights in the park while the other half was covered in shadow._

_All I could hear for the next few seconds was the sound of my own ragged breathing and pounding heart. I already knew what he was going to say before it came out of his mouth. _

_I wanted to cover my ears, but my hands were glued to my sides._

_"I'm sorry, but I can't return your feelings."_

I could barely recall what happened after that moment, I had been so out of it. In fact, I'm not entirely sure how I got home after that point. I don't think I was paying attention to anything or anyone. Tamaki had probably given me a ride, I think I remembered hearing his loud voice asking me if I was feeling well because I was so unresponsive.

All I knew was that as soon as I got home I had gone up to my room, flopped down on my bed, and hugged Kitsune tightly to my chest. I didn't sleep that night despite how physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted I had felt.

It was hard to believe that all of that had only transpired exactly one week ago.

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...I thought calmly to myself, it's not the end of the world.

Rejection sure stung like hell though. He even said it in a nice, straightforward way as well. I think this whole thing only made me like him even more. I know that sounded kind of twisted and strange and abnormal, but I couldn't help it. I liked the guy too much!

My mother was, of course, unsympathetic to my plight. She was too wrapped up at yelling at me the next morning for coming home late without telling her where I had been to notice or care about my despondent state. My father had only sat at the breakfast table calmly with a newspaper in his hands, nodding and grunting in agreement with my mother as she vigorously chewed me out.

Initially, I had feared she would ban me from working at the bakery, which, at times like these, was my only comfort. Instead of taking away the one thing that made me feel remotely useful, she decided that I wasn't allowed to leave the house until I graduated from high school, going to the bakery after school and on weekends to work was the only exception.

In all honesty, I had never been an outdoorsy person and I mostly kept inside anyway, but this meant I couldn't go to Haruhi's apartment for tutoring. This aspect made my punishment problematic.

I tried to reason with her that I needed to go there at least once a week for study help, but she hotly rebuffed me each time saying that I "shouldn't have been going over to that shameless cross dresser's home in the first place". She was such a sweet woman, eh?

I stood next to the stove, spatula in hand as I wearily eyed the pancakes that were slowly turning a light shade of crispy golden brown in the pan over the flame. The kitchen smelt like burnt pancake batter, I suppose it was due to all of the distracting thoughts floating around in my head that I wasn't paying that much attention to the task at hand.

"Egh, I hate pancakes!" I heard my little brother whine as he sat at the table behind me. He was such a picky little brat sometimes.

"You will eat them and you will like them," I said harshly, glaring at him over my shoulder.

"You're burning them though..."

I pouted. "Stop complaining or I'll really give you a pile of ash for breakfast." Okay, so maybe that wasn't the most sisterly thing I could have said, but I was in a pretty testy mood after having to deal with my madman of a mother. I hadn't said much in response to her other then trying to explain her that I needed to go to Haruhi's occasionally but, like I stated earlier, that obviously didn't go over too well with her.

"Nodoka..." my little brother persisted in a childish voice.

"Hmm?" I folded my arms across my chest as I turned around to face him. What did he want to complain about now?

His eyes widened a little. "Nodoka..."

"What?" I growled angrily.

Slowly, he raised a hand and pointed a trembling index finger at the stove. His face was unnaturally pale. "They're smoking."

"Eh?" I whirled back around to see that the pancakes that I had been making had were burned beyond recognition, burnt dark brown and black with tendrils of smoke snaking up towards the ceiling. This was so _not_ good. Crap, crap, crap. I hadn't burned anything since I was in elementary school.

It was a good thing my mother and father weren't home on this lovely Sunday morning or else I'd be in real trouble. However, I was lucky enough to have learned how to put out a small little fire like this after watching my parents work in a bakery for years.

Quickly, I picked up the pan's lid and slide it completely over the top of the pan to cut off the oxygen supply before turning off the heat.

I waited a few seconds before removing the lid to examine what was left of the pancakes. What was going to be breakfast for my brother and myself was now reduced to several small piles of ashes.

My face dropped and I heaved a melancholy sigh.

I heard my brother groan sadly at the loss of the pancakes. May they rest in peace.

Great, what a way to start the day.

* * *

I laid on the couch with my hands behind my head. Usually, I didn't mind staying indoors. It's not like I had many school friends that I would want to hang out with outside of classes so I never had any reason to leave home, but now this was seeming like torture. It was barely passed noon and I was bored out of my mind. I wanted to go out and walk, breath in fresh air, stare at the clouds and lose myself in the vastness of the world. However, one footstep outside meant certain death.

"Quit looking so restless," my sister chided as she stood near the couch with her intelligent eyes gazing down at me, "don't you have any tests to study for?" I think she was getting annoyed at watching me fidget on the couch for the past hour or so. If she didn't like it then why didn't she just leave? It's not she's the one under house arrest here.

I propped myself up on my elbows and stared at her. She looked pretty, like usual, with her hair tied up into an elegant knot, a touch of rose colored blush on her cheeks and a glossy, light pink lip gloss shining on her lips. It was hard for me to believe that we were spawned from the same genetic pool at times.

"I do," I began in a lazy drawl, laying my head back down against a comfy couch cushion, "but I have trouble studying by myself and since I'm barred from going outside I can't exactly waltz over to Haruhi's for help."

My sister folded her arms across her chest and pursed her shiny lips together. "Oh, I almost forgot about your little punishment..."

"Yeah, it's pretty easy to forget especially when you're not the one suffering," I said coldly.

I felt her ruffle my hair between her fingers in a comforting gesture. "I'm sure they'll lighten up on you eventually. They're just frustrated that you're so unmotivated."

I puffed out my cheeks childishly. "I'm motivated, why do you think I asked Haruhi to tutor me? Do you think I enjoy being an idiot? Besides," I paused briefly as I inhaled sharply, "I have a lot on my mind right now." Like the whole confessing to the guy I liked out of the blue and getting rejected only mere seconds afterwards.

Osen exhaled heavily. "I know that, I can tell just by looking at that mopey face of yours that something is wrong, but I also know that you don't appreciate it when I pry."

"I'm not moping," I hissed dryly. "I'm sulking."

"They're more or less the same thing."

"...shut up."

"I love you, too."

I crinkled my nose and turned my head away. Sisters always say the most embarrassing things with such ease, it's like they're trying to make you feel like a jerk.

She laughed heartedly at the sight of my bright red face before checking her wristwatch. "Listen, kiddo, I've got to run."

"Where are you going?" I asked with mild interest. Maybe there was a special reason she was wearing all that makeup and stylish clothes this afternoon.

I followed her to the front door and leaned against the wall as I watched her slip high heels onto her feet. Unlike me, she was probably used to the pain of heels and I bet she could walk better in them than I could any day.

"I've got a lunch date with my fiance and don't you give me that look," Osen huffed in annoyance when she caught me rolling my eyes.

"Really?" I inquired, remembering the last time when we had touched on this subject. She had told me that things might not work out like she thought, but I guess they must have patched things up between them. Speaking of her fiance, I don't think I've met the lucky guy yet.

"He was just having the classic case of cold feet, you know how men are."

No, I really don't. If I knew that then I would have an explanation for Mamoru's odd behavior, I would know why Kei is so persistent, and, finally, I would actually have a good grasp on what goes on inside Mori's head. Life would be much simpler that way. And maybe I would be less crazy. A girl can dream, right?

My sister left after giving me an encouraging hug. I had an inkling she knew what happened at the amusement park last week somehow. I secretly prayed Ranka-san wouldn't get wind of it though, that man would never leave me alone again if he heard about it.

I sank to the floor and stretched my feet out in front of me, placing my hands on my thighs. I tilted my head back and stared at the cracks in the ceiling.

The house was dead quiet. Sushi had left soon after the breakfast fiasco to go to a friend's house and now Osen was gone.

As hard as I tried to focus on keeping my mind blank, the thoughts of Mori kept creeping back in. His eyes, his deep, rumbling voice, his smile, his kindness, his strong arms that had carried me back home on more than one occasion, his bare torso (a memory still well engraved in my head), and his large, warm hands...

I wondered if I had misinterpreted some of his actions towards me, thinking that they may have been more than just friendly gestures.

Honestly, I never once thought he felt the same way about me, but...hell, I don't know what I was thinking at the time or what had come over me.

I lowered my eyes to the wooden floor and hunched my shoulders over. This was a difficult situation, one that I would need to handle with care in the future if I wanted to preserve my friendship with him. However, patching things up with Mori would have to wait a little bit longer. I had other priorities that needed to be taken care of before I could even think about talking and apologizing to him for my stupid actions.

Slowly, I got onto my feet and made my way over to the phone, which was in the kitchen. If I couldn't go over to Haruhi's to study then I wondered if she could come over here instead...

**XXXXXX**

Too tired to check for spelling and grammar mistakes...errghhhhhhhhh.

Musical Inspiration-_ Pretty Rave Girl_ by I am X-ray

Yeah...probably not the answer most of you were expecting, but rejection builds character! Also, I've been debating for a while if I should make this an unrequited love story because I have this little sadistic streak inside me that wishes it to be so. We shall see...;o

Thank you to all of you who hit the 'go' button at the bottom of the page to leave me kind words and encouragement. It makes this soon-to-be poor college art student happy.

Peace out.


	30. Photograph

Episode 30 of Luckiest Loser

Photograph

I put my hand on my hip and waited as the phone rang. I had the receiver held up to my ear and I began impatiently tapping my foot on the floor.

_One ring, two rings, three rings..._

I heard a soft click on the other end and was immediately assaulted with the throughly annoyed voice of a hungover Ranka-san.

"What is it?"

I could just imagine him on the other end running a hand through his long, unkempt hair with unshaven stubble on his chin and above his upper lip. The inglorious appearance of a cross dresser without their makeup on was indeed a sight to behold and I would know that seeing as how I'd already managed to see Ranka-san in such a dismal state once already a few weeks ago. And now, I could just picture him sitting on the floor with his legs crossed with a large white shirt on, tattered jeans and frizzy hair as he held the phone while scowling.

"It's me, Ranka-san."

There was silence on the other end.

My eyebrow twitched. "It's me, _Nodoka-chan_," I grumbled grudgingly into the receiver.

"I know, I can recognize your voice," he said casually.

"Then why didn't you say something?"

I heard him stifle a yawn. "I'm half asleep over here. Your lovely little phone call woke me up."

_And I'm not apologizing for it, bastard. _I didn't saw that aloud, of course, the last thing I wanted was for a pissed off Ranka-san to come over to my house and verbally obliterate me. I suppose I was a bit resentful towards him for trying to "shove me in the right direction". Maybe I had inherited the ability to hold a grudge from my mother. I shuddered at the thought.

"Ranka-san?"

"Mmm?"

"Is Haruhi there?"

"She's out right now," he said gruffly.

"Oh," I tried not to sound too disappointed. "Well, can you tell her I called?" I asked, hoping that Ranka-san wasn't too angry at me for waking him up during his much needed beauty sleep.

"Yeah, yeah," he murmured.

"Thanks," I said quickly as I remembered my manners. "I would really appreciate it."

"Aren't you supposed to be coming over here later today?"

I froze. Ranka-san seemed to sense my hesitance in answering his question.

"Got in trouble with your parents again, eh?" his tone sounded slightly bemused.

"It's really only my mother who gives me trouble these days," I replied reluctantly. My father just seemed to go along with whatever she said these days without questioning her.

"Sounds stressful."

"It is." It's a miracle that I'm still perfectly sane. Although, at times I did wonder.

"Well," Ranka-san yawned, "I'll tell Haruhi that you called."

"Need to get back to sleep?"

"Uh-huh, I'm working late tonight."

"Don't do anything to make Haruhi worry," I warned tartly.

"I'll try to restrain myself then."

"You better."

"Bye, Nyo-chan."

"...it's only cute when Hunny calls me that. When you say it...it just sounds downright creepy."

"So critical." I heard him make a "tsk, tsk" sound. "Well then, bye, Nodoka-chan."

As soon as I hung up the phone, I heard the front door swing open.

I poked my head out into the hallway from the kitchen. "Osen? Tetsushi?" I called loudly, no answer. I grimaced. "Mom? Dad?" Still no answer. I pursed my lips together. _What the heck?_

I stepped into the hallway and walked towards the front door only to see Mamoru squatting by the floor, slipping off his sneakers.

He tilted his head up towards me, it was almost as if he was trying to act cute. "Good afternoon. Nice day, isn't it?"

"I wouldn't know," I answered harshly. _Seeing as how I'm not allowed to go outside._

Mamoru stood up and shoved his hands into his jean pockets. "A little fresh air is good for you, you know."

"Mamoru, why are you here?" I inquired as I crossed my arms over my chest. "And since when do you have a house key?"

He brushed past me with that goofy smile plastered onto his face. "Do I need a reason to visit my cousin?"

"Yes," I answered swiftly, watching him suspiciously as I closed the front door. He was in his usual attire, jeans and a black t-shirt. The only thing that was significantly different about him today was that his hair was now a dark shade of blue. Yes, you heard me. His hair was blue and spiked up into a faux-hawk. He looked simply ridiculous.

"It's not like I'm interrupting something," he chided with a light chuckle.

"Actually, I'm waiting for a phone call."

"From who?"

"Quit evading the question and tell me why you're here," I said sternly. "Please don't tell me you're ditching work again." Because I would give anything at the moment to be at the bakery baking in order to soothe my nerves.

He shook his head. "It's nothing like that."

Mamoru wandered into the living room without so much as beginning to offer an explanation as to why he was here. His hands were shoved into his pockets and he still had that wicked grin on his face as he looked at family pictures on the shelves with keen interest. I saw him pause as one picture caught his eye and he preceded to take one of his hands out of his pockets to pick up the photo for closer inspection. It was then that I noticed that the hand he was holding the photo with had blood stained medical tape wrapped around his knuckles.

I leaned against the door frame, my arms still folded across my chest as I stared curiously at him. Normally, I wasn't good at reading people, but I could tell just by looking at his slouching posture that something was eating him up. Usually, he would be chatting away at this point, but he was unsettlingly quiet. Also, the sight of the his bandaged knuckles was just slightly disturbing.

I didn't know what to say though or how to even go about asking him if something was wrong. It was an awkward situation.

He turned to me, the photo still in his hand. "Remember this?" He held out the picture for me to take.

I kept my arms crossed, not even budging an inch to take it from him.

I looked down at the picture in his hand and recognized it instantly. It was a photograph my sister had taken a few years ago when I had been in middle school. It wasn't a particularly great picture of me either or, at least, that's what I had always thought because I never viewed myself as the photogenic type. It wasn't even framed, it was not worthy of such a minut honor.

In the photo I was wearing my middle school uniform, which happened to include a horrible short skirt and plaid knee socks. I wasn't even doing anything interesting in the photo either, I was just standing outside our house on the sidewalk waiting. Not to mention, back in middle school I looked like I should have still been in elementary school.

However, there was positively nothing memorable about it. In fact, I would love to forget middle school ever happened. Anyone who says that they fully enjoyed that particular time in their life is either lying or just didn't realize how miserable they really were.

"That's from my last year of middle school," I responded dully. "So what?"

He tapped the photo against my forehead. "Don't tell me you forgot?"

"Eh?" I blinked twice. "What did I forget?" How could I forget something if there was nothing to remember in the first place?

Mamoru smiled weakly. "We used to walk to school together, remember?"

"Only because your high school was close by," I muttered under my breath. It was more like my mother had forced me into walking to school with him, she didn't think it was right for a young girl to walk to school by herself at the time and my aunt had agreed that Mamoru should "escort" me. I didn't know what he was getting at with this though, strolling down memory lane was the last thing on my mind.

"And," he continued, ignoring my indifferent gaze, "that sometimes my school friends would walk with us."

"So what?" I repeated in annoyance. I still honestly didn't see what the heck he was going on about. Sure, I recalled walking with him and some guys from his school from time to time, but there really wasn't anything about it that was particularly special for me to remember.

He heaved a sigh before chuckling. "You really are forgetful...how could you forget it?"

"Forget what?"

Mamoru slowly approached me with his shoulders hunched over. He stopped in front of me and put his hand on the door frame above me head. He lowered his head so we were almost seeing each other eye-to-eye.

"That one of the guys who used to walk with us...one of my friends from school was Kei..."

My eyes widened and my mouth formed a small 'o'. How the hell could I have forgotten that? Mamoru had even been the one to introduce us to each other!

Mamoru diverted his eyes away from mine. "I've always felt guilty about that. He told me he thought you were cute a couple of times and I didn't think that it would do any harm if I introduced you to him. You've had boyfriends before that were older than you so I didn't think it was a big deal if you went out with someone the same age as me. Besides...he was my friend."

"I only had had two previous boyfriends before I started dating Kei, thank you very much," I muttered venomously from the corner of my mouth. And neither of them I had liked very much, they had both been snobbish high school students who were more interested in doing perverted things than anything else. Of course, I had dumped both of them before the relationship had delved anywhere into that type of thing...however, by the time I started dating Kei I was no stranger to holding hands and kissing.

"Why are you bringing this up now?"

Mamoru rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, you see...I kinda ran into him yesterday. It's been a while since I've seen the bastard, you know."

"Don't tell me..." I trailed off as I grabbed his bandaged hand in my trembling hands. Mamoru was such an idiot. Didn't he know that I didn't want people to involve themselves in this matter?

He jerked his hand out of my grasp and chuckled lividly. "Then I won't tell you what happened."

"Mamoru!"

"Whaaat?" He stuck out his lower lip. "You told me not to tell you so I won't."

My eyebrow twitched in irritation. "Fine, just don't do anything that stupid ever again. I don't want you or anyone else causing trouble on my behalf."

"Do you honestly think I'm going to let someone get away with hurting my cousin?"

"Mamoru, please..." I pleaded, clutching my fists at my sides.

A sullen silence entered the room as Mamoru and I stared intent at one another for the next few minutes. He looked angry, agitated, and seriously peeved.

Why didn't anyone seem to understand that I didn't want them meddling in this affair? Just looking at Mamoru's injured knuckles had me feel horrible inside. Although, I was a bit relieved to finally have an inkling as to why he was acting so strange lately. I suppose it was only natural for him to feel guilty, after all, if it wasn't for him I would have never met Kei in the first place.

I lowered my eyelids and frowned.

Mamoru eventually threw his hands up in submission. "Alright, alright! I won't get involved anymore! But if he tries anything then the gloves are off, okay?"

"Mamoru..."

"If it's not me that beats the shit out of him than I hope it's that Morinozuka guy."

"I'd rather that neither of you would do that..." I mumbled feebly.

Mamoru brushed my bangs away from my forehead. The touch of his cold fingers against my skin made me twitch. "I don't mind it if means he'll leave you alone."

I made a face at him. "What if you make it worse?"

"Always the pessimist, you are," Mamoru sighed heavily.

The doorbell suddenly rang. I made a move to answer it, but Mamoru beat me to it. Damn, he was quick.

"Ah, Morinozuka! Great timing! I shall leave my cousin in your capable hands!"

Mori stayed silent, but even I could plainly see that what my cousin had said had caught him off guard. Even though Mori was generally the silent type, I think he was truly at a loss for words at that moment. Yeah, Mamoru sometimes had that affect on people.

As for me, I was just a tad bit mortified. "What the hell? Mamoru! Don't say something like that!"

I don't know what was freaking me out more, the fact that Mamoru was singling out Mori or the fact that the Host Club was here.

"Don't worry, we'll take good care of her!" Hunny chimed, waving his arms about happily.

Tamaki gasped. "Is there something going on between my niece and Mori-sempai?"

Oh the drama.

Kyoya merely shrugged. "Apparently, I noticed a while ago..."

"You sure are slow to catch on, Milord..." the twins stated in unison with equally deadpan faces.

Mamoru then slung an arm around the tall senior's shoulder. "And look at this." he whispered smugly as he held up the picture of me in my middle school uniform for Mori to see. "Isn't she adorable?"

I wrung my hands. "Put that away! Nobody wants to see something like that!" My cheeks were flushed a bright shade of red and my stomach lurched. This was beyond embarrassing, how could Mamoru show something like that to him in such a carefree manner?

Mori simply stared at him with one of his eyebrows quirked up. It was neigh impossible to tell what was going in his head as my cousin continually brandished my photo in front of him like a proud father.

I expected this sort of behavior from Tamaki, not from my own cousin...

Mamoru smirked at me as he tucked the photo into Mori's front jacket pocket. "You should hold onto that." He then gave him an unnecessary wink before disappearing out the front door.

My mouth was hanging slightly ajar at this point and my brows were knitted together in horror. I was stunned.

That settles it, I'm going to murder Mamoru.

**XXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _Treasure Island _by Thee Out Mods

At long last, THE MAMORU ISSUE IS CLEARED UP! :D (sort of...)

And I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I'm so glad that most of you thought Mori's rejection was very "in character" for him.

But why is the Host Club at Nodoka's house? Ohoho...;o

I'm sorry that it took me so long to write a new chapter...I've just been so busy lately with high school graduation, moving, college orientation, looking for a job, etc etc...

I'm also sorry for the severe ellipses abuse in this chapter...(ack, I did it again! ;o;)

I'm also sorry to say that due to my little annual trip to the East Coast that I may not be able to update this story for six weeks...D:

Review? :D

Peace out.


	31. Reading Minds

I haven't really been keeping track of the seasons in this story (because I'm a lazy little sonuvabitch) so, for convenience's sake, let's pretend that it's almost spring, okay? -COUGHCOUGHENDOFJAPANESESCHOOLYEARCOUGHCOUGH-

**XXXXXX**

Episode 31 of Luckiest Loser

Reading Minds

"You better have a good excuse for why you're here," I muttered coldly to Tamaki as I eyed the other Host Club members suspiciously. After Mamoru's little stint, I clearly wasn't in the mood to deal with them if they were planning on being obnoxious. If they had shown up here for the sole purpose of annoying me then they had better start praying to whatever god or other worldly being they believed in as a higher power because I wasn't going to tolerate it. However, I'd be merciful towards Hunny and Mori due to the simple fact that they were the only members of the club that I respected and liked more often than not.

Mamoru certainly had a way of putting me into a sour mood.

I cracked my knuckles as menacingly as I could and glared at Tamaki. "Well?"

Tamaki dismissed my hostility with a careless wave of his hand. "Princess, there is a reason for everything, I assure you." He attempted to take my hand in a princely gesture, but I countered his efforts by sticking my hands in my pockets. Ha, take that!

"Well?" I repeated, taking a few steps away from him just in case he would try anything else with me. It was a learned safety precaution around Tamaki. Normal girls might fall for that kind of thing, but, unlike most girls, I didn't find Tamaki's flirtatious charm all that appealing.

I thought that I had accidentally backed up into a wall, but when I turned my head around I saw that I had actually walked right into Mori's chest. He was so much like a statue that I hadn't even been able to sense his presence behind me until I had softly rebounded off of him. My face began to feel warm, which was the telltale sign that my cheeks were probably colored a nice red hue by now.

He didn't seem to mind that I had bumped into him. He didn't even flinch from the body contact. He stood there, like a still and silent giant towering over me dressed in slacks and button up shirt with the collar up and the first few buttons at the top undone. Part of me wondered if he was still in shock from my cousin's behavior or maybe it just that he was used to something like that happening to him every so often.

Once again, Nodoka, a voice in my head stated grimly, you proved just how stupid you are. How could you forget that he was here?

I frowned, disliking the tone the voice in my head was using against me. It was an accident. Besides, he doesn't appear as nearly concerned about it as much as myself. Then again, you could never be sure what he's thinking.

However, his poker face had some cracks in it. I was beginning to pick up on his settle facial mannerisms that indicated his mood. Raised or lowered eyebrows meant he was either surprised or choleric. The corners of his lips either curling ever-so-slightly up or down indicated if he was happy or upset. It was the subtlety of these things that made them hard to catch, but I found that I had developed a keen eye for these small changes.

The one thing that always stood out the most to me though, more so than his smiles or furrowed brows, were his eyes. His dark eyes were far more expressive than his eyebrows and lips. I know, it's strange, right? His eyes had the same unfocused glaze that they had possessed during my recent past encounters with him. There was something bothering him again, I just knew it.

And now, everybody was staring at us in the middle of the hallway...

Everybody knew that I liked him...except maybe Tamaki, who had appeared to have forgotten about the group revelation that had occurred earlier.

I tore my eyes away from Mori quickly. I couldn't believe that I had blanked out while staring at him like that. Great, not only was I a girl with a helpless crush, but I also looked borderline psychotic. _Wonderfu_l. I'm not surprised he rejected me in such a straight forward manner. I did a pretty good job of making myself look like a fool without my lovely cousin's help.

This was beyond uncomfortable. I didn't want my feelings to be on public display or under anyone's scrutiny.

"Nodoka-chan?" Tamaki piped up in a tone that suggested he was curious as to why I had been paying more attention to Mori than to him.

"Nodoka-chan?"

"She still seems to be spaced out, Milord. Perhaps we should try sending a message to her home planet and hope we hear back soon."

"Let's just give her the invitation so we can leave, Milord."

My ears perked up and I finally focused my attention on the other members of the Host Club. "Invitation?" For what?

Tamaki supplied the answer before I could even begin to imagine what the details of the invitation entailed, which saved me a lot of guesswork and a few agonizing seconds in suspecting that it might be another one of the Twin's schemes to get me out of the house and into trouble.

"For a graduation party," the handsome blond said as he flashed a dazzling grin at me. His teeth were so white that I think he almost blinded me when his pearly whites caught the light. "The end of the school year is upon us and the Host Club must bid two of its members farewell by the end of the month."

My eyes widened and I spun around to look at Hunny who had been occupying himself by pretending he was having a tea party with Usa-chan by using some of my mother's ceramic tea set.

"Y-you're graduating?" I had to remind myself that despite Hunny's size, he was a year older than myself. The fact that he was a senior in high school had never quite sunk into my brain until that moment.

Hunny bobbed his head up and down jovially. "Yep! Takashi, too!"

My heart skipped a beat and my hands clutched the hem of my shirt as I remembered that the tall senior was still standing behind me. Now that I was aware of where he was I could feel myself getting extremely flustered.

Hunny looked at me with pleading eyes as he held his precious Usa-chan tightly in his arms. "Nyo-chan, you'll go, ne?"

How could I explain to him while he was giving me those big, sweet, adorable puppy eyes that I was under house arrest?

"Well, umm..." I rubbed the back of my neck. I could feel Mori's gaze on me as I tried to think about how to answer Hunny without upsetting him. Was it better for me to give him some sense of hope or to blatantly lie? I decided to go with the former, it seemed like the more honorable way to go. "I'll try to talk my parents into it, okay?"

The small senior beamed at me like today was Christmas, Valentine's and his birthday all rolled into one.

I was thankful no one questioned why I'd have to talk my parents into it, perhaps they were beginning to grasp the difficulty I had dealing with my parents, particularly my mother.

"Here, Nyo-chan!" Hunny held up a sealed envelope for me to take.

I smiled lightly as I took the envelope from Hunny. "Are you excited about graduating?"

"Uh-huh, I'm going to be studying abroad in England," he replied happily.

"Really?" I had never been out of the country or even on an airplane so I was intrigued by this news. My next line of thought was obvious: was Mori going with him? He hadn't mentioned it.

"Where do you think you're going to attend college, Nodoka?" Kyoya asked, eerily polite.

My body stiffened.

"Umm, I'm going to the kitchen...to think about something...I'll be right back," I mumbled in an airy tone, excusing myself so I could avoid answering his question. I didn't want to talk about my college plans and that combined with the burden of going to what was most likely going to be the most extravagant party in my life, if I could convince my parents, felt overwhelming. College was a year away, anyway. When the times comes I'll worry about it, but, as of now, I had more important matters to freak out over.

I retreated to the kitchen and placed the unopened envelope on the counter. I could hear them conversing loudly in the other room and I heaved a sigh. There was absolutely no guarantee that I could go to the party even though I felt obligated to go after everything the two seniors had done for me this year. My parents would probably nail me to the wall if I went about asking them the wrong way, but there had to be something to get them to at least lift my punishment for one night.

I leaned on the counter and exhaled heavily again. This was going to be hard. Maybe Osen could convince them for me? She was persuasive and they liked her. Yeah, that could work...

I paused when I heard the sound of heavy footsteps in the hallway. I looked over my shoulder to see Mori stopped in the doorway with his hands resting casually on his hips.

Why was he here? Why did he follow me? I could already feel the butterflies surfacing in my stomach, it was almost nauseating.

"I'm sorry about bumping into you earlier," I said quickly as I bowed my head. I had a feeling that he hadn't been searching for an apology when he entered the kitchen, but I couldn't think of anything else to say to him.

He remained silent for a few moments before tilting his head to the side a little bit. "Is your knee healed yet?"

We both avoided eye contact with each other.

I nodded solemnly, I was afraid to speak in fear that my voice would be nothing but a series of high pitched squeaks instead of words.

He came closer to me. "Can I see it?"

I froze. "Eh...what?"

Before I could inquire further or give him my consent, Mori had already crouched down on the tiled floor and rolled up my right jean leg to inspect it. I thanked God that I had shaved my legs last night or else this would have been even more embarrassing.

He gently ran his fingertips over the healed skin. His soft, light touch made my skin tingle pleasantly and I fought off the urge to jerk my leg away from him. Mori appeared to have an odd fascination with old injuries of mine as he had a habit of examining them to make sure they were healing.

"It feels fine?"

"Y-yeah."

My arms hung limply at my sides as I tried to prevent myself from blushing like a maniac and keep a straight face. I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed the attention, but there was a lingering feeling of uneasiness swelling inside of me.

It suddenly struck me that something similar happened like this at the amusement park. Granted, he hadn't knelt down and examined my leg then, but he had asked how my knee was and it was later that I had made the connection that _that_ was his covert way of showing that he was worried about me.

I bit my bottom lip. So that's what this was all about.

It was sort of endearing, but at the same time I couldn't help but think that this made him a little troublesome. The fact that Mori had a troublesome side to him made him seem all the more charming. I was enjoying his faults as much as I enjoyed his virtues. I didn't know if that made me weird or not to like someone for their good attributes and adore them for their quirky flaws. I knew that there was an obvious fine line between character flaws and just flat out having a horrible personality, my experiences with Kei had taught me that much at least.

I felt the need to reassure him again. "It's fine, Mori. I'm alright."

He lifted his head up and stared at me as if he were trying to figure out if I was lying to him by reading my face. Eventually, he dropped his gaze and leaned back on the floor with his hands and his long legs crossed. "I was worried there was going to be a scar. If there was..." He hunched his shoulders over and cradled his forehead in his hands.

I covered my mouth with my hand as I tried my best not to laugh. Indeed, he was troublesome. And surprisingly pessimistic. I loved seeing this new side to him.

I kneeled down on the floor next to him, still trying not to giggle at his expense. "You shouldn't worry about something as trivial as that. I'm no stranger to scars." I pointed to the light pink skin above my eyebrow where Kei had hit me. "You can barely notice it now, right? Like you said a while ago, it's healing nicely. So, let me be the one to fret over things like this, okay?" It's not like either my injuries were his fault, but I could tell that he thought otherwise.

He rested his chin in the palm of his hand and lowered his eyelids. Judging from his body language, I knew he was telling me that he was going to worry about it regardless of what I told him without even saying the words aloud.

I hugged my knees to my chest. It was oddly comforting to be sitting on the floor with Mori and knowing that he was concerned by having his own funny way of showing it.

"NODOKA-CHAN! HIKARU AND KAORU ARE HOGGING THE TV REMOTE!" Tamaki cried as he burst into the kitchen, his breathing ragged and his hair tousled out of place.

Mori took this as his sign to leave, much to my dismay. Of course, Tamaki had to interrupt just when Mori was finally displaying a side of him I hadn't seen before until now.

A vein throbbed on my temple and I clenched my fists.

"Tamaki," I hissed venomously through gritted teeth as I scrambled back up onto my feet, "this is one of those situations where I weigh your good qualities against your bad ones and decide if you're worth all the trouble."

His jaw went slack and his eyes were widened in horror. "Nodoka-chan, you're starting to scare your uncle..." he stuttered.

My eyebrows were slanted downwards in annoyance and my lips were pursed tightly together. He had the worst timing in the world!

"Don't worry," I assured him briskly as I brushed past him, "you made it."

I heard a long, relieved sigh escape his mouth. He was lucky enough to get away with his life this time and he knew it, too.

* * *

"Leave, just leave." I ordered as I tried to herd the Host Club out of the house like sheep. They had a nasty tendency to overstay their welcome and I was still pissed at Tamaki despite saying that I forgave him earlier.

Haruhi hadn't called me yet and I got a bad feeling that Ranka-san had either gone back to sleep or that he deliberately hadn't delivered my message to his daughter.

"I'll call you later, my niece!" Tamaki announced dramatically as I forcefully pushed him out the door.

"Please, don't."

"We can discuss our summer plans and maybe even get Haruhi-"

I tuned Tamaki out.

"Bye-bye, Nyo-chan! I'll stop by the bakery sometime next week to buy some sweets!"

I watched as they piled into their respective vehicles; a Rolls Royce, a Ferrari, and a Bentley. I wished next time they had the sudden urge to drop by they would arrive in less gaudy modes of transportation.

It was then that a sickeningly sinister thought occurred to me as I watched their cars drive off down the street. At that moment, it felt like my stomach had dropped to my knees. Sometimes, I swear, I could be so stupid that I wanted to bang my head against a wall in hopes that it would knock some damn common sense into me.

The picture was _still _in Mori's pocket.

Shit, I knew I had forgotten something.

**XXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _Disturbia _by Rihanna

Moving into college dorm room this weekend. Should be fun.

Reviews create warm, fuzzy feelings in my tummy.

Peace out.


	32. Good Luck Charm

Episode 32 of Luckiest Loser

Good Luck Charm

_"You can go," my mother began in a dry voice. Her fingers were intwined together as her forearms rested on the table. My mother's black hair was pulled back into a tight bun and a sneer was tugging on her lips. An image of the Wicked Witch of the West popped into my head. How strangely fitting._

_I held my breath. That was too easy. There had to be something she wasn't telling me._

_"On one condition," she continued, straightening up in her chair. _

_Ah, here it comes. I knew this middle-aged harpy had something up her sleeve._

_"You have to get at least eighty percent on all of your final exams."_

_It took me a full minute to absorb the impact of what she had said._

_"WHAT?"_

"And that," I said, taking in a deep breath of air before exhaling noisily as I gripped the phone tightly in my hand, "is exactly what happened. She expects me to get at least eighty percent on everything! She's crazy! Sixty percent maybe, but she goes straight for the jugular. She's insane! There's no way I can got that score on all of my final exams!"

"Nodoka, I have my own exams to worry about. Can't you study on your own?" I could just imagine Haruhi's slightly irked expression on the other end of the receiver.

"Well, yeah, but it wouldn't be the same..."

She sighed. "I have to maintain the top grades in my class. I can't afford to slip up or else I'll lose my scholarship."

I lowered my head, defeated. How selfish could I be? It was unreasonable and unfair of me to ask her to take time out of her studying schedule just so she could tutor me. Besides, she had a lot more at stake than I did. She was under far more pressure to do well than I had ever been in my life, it wouldn't be right to handicap her chances to succeed by making her cater to my needs.

"You're right," I agreed after giving it some thought. "I need to learn to rely on myself a bit more, anyway."

"You'll be fine," Haruhi assured me. "Just don't allow yourself to get distracted," she added after a few seconds of silence.

"I hope I don't," I muttered. Thinking positively wasn't exactly my strong point, but I decided not to mention that to her. She probably knew that already, anyway. "So, I guess the next time I'll see you will be over summer vacation, right?"

"Most likely, but even then we have homework."

I ran a hand over my face. "Don't remind me."

She chuckled lightly.

"Oh, by the way," I started as leaned on the kitchen counter, "did Ranka-san ever give you my message?"

She paused. "No, I don't think so."

_That bastard._

"Was is important?"

"Not really, no." There was no point in opening that can of worms. "I'll see you in a month then?"

"Most likely. I might get a summer job in Karuizawa, though."

The conversation dwindled off from there because there wasn't really much else to discuss. After we said our goodbyes and hung up, I put the phone back in its proper place so my mother wouldn't yell at me again for "leaving things laying around".

I glanced at my wristwatch. It was midday on a Sunday and I had the house to myself for another couple of hours. Eventually, my overwhelming desire to bake took over and I began rummaging through the cabinets and the refrigerator for flour, eggs, butter, sugar and vanilla to make madeleines.

Studying could wait until tomorrow.

* * *

The next day after school, I immediately went upstairs to my room, changed into more comfortable clothes, sat at my desk, and opened my history textbook with a strong resolve to study. The house was quiet, my parents were out working at the bakery, my sister was meeting with her wedding planner, and my brother was at a friend's house to play video games. The silence was a bit unsettling, but I guess it allowed for fewer distractions.

I had to do well on my finals so I could attend Hunny's and Mori's graduation party. If I wasn't able to pass my mother's expectations not only would I let down myself, but I would let down others as well.

My eyes stared blankly at the text filled page in front of me. The thousands of small letters sure looked intimidating...and I mentally noted the lack of pictures, meaning more space for tiny, cramped text...

_Focus, focus, focus!_

I pulled the textbook closer to myself and began reading out loud.

"The Meiji era denotes the 45-year reign of the Meiji Emperor. During this time period, Japan began its modernization and become a world power..."

At this point, I started to skim the text. There were references to some guy named "Mutsuhito" and something called the "Meiji Restoration", but after lightly reading the next few pages in my history textbook it occurred to me that I could not recall what I had read on the page before. All the words seemed to be blending together and nothing stood out. After a few minutes of confusion, I had to flip back to where I started from just to remember what the heck I was reading about in the first place.

Of course it didn't take too long for me to figure out that with no one there to bark orders at me or tell me what to do I had relatively no clue how to go about studying or how to process and retain information.

Perhaps I had become too accustomed to relying on others for help? I certainly had been spoiled the past few months. Haruhi had always gone out of her way to tutor me and the two seniors always seemed to show up just at the right moment when I wasn't able to handle a situation on my own. As of now, there was no one to help me and it made me feel somewhat useless that I couldn't even study on my own.

I nearly jumped out of my seat when I heard the doorbell ring. I slammed my textbook close in a resentful manner, as if the book was purposefully out to ruin my chances of passing my finals and getting an eighty percent on the test to please my mother.

I left my desk and lazily sauntered through the hallway and down the stairs to the door.

As soon as I opened the front door, a blonde blur pounced on me faster than I could blink my eyes.

"NYO-CHAN!"

I grimaced. I hoped that the rest of the Host Club hadn't decided to surprise me as well. I had enough of their little out-of-the-blue visits for a lifetime.

Hunny seemed to pick up on my line of thought when he saw that I wasn't exactly thrilled to see him. "Don't worry, Nyo-chan. It's just me and Takashi."

"Oh." That was definitely good news. I wasn't in the mood to handle an exuberant Tamaki and devious twins today. "Erm, why are you guys here?"

My eyes slowly wandered to the dark haired senior who was standing in the doorway with his hands in his pockets. I stared at him shyly as my fingers began playing with the hem of my shirt, tugging on it and twisting it.

"Haru-chan told us about what your mother said," Hunny explained as he tilted his head to the side. "You have to get eighty percent on all your exams or else you can't come to the party, ne?"

"Yep," I confirmed with a brisk nod as I released the hem of my shirt from my grasp.

Hunny smiled brightly at me, his eyes were gleaming with excitement. "We came by to cheer you up! And we brought you something, too!" He began digging his hands in his pockets for a couple of minutes. After a while of futile search he turned to Mori. "I must have left it in the car, Takashi! I'll be right back!"

I watched as Hunny ran back to his car with mild amusement until I realized that now I was alone with Mori. My amusement quickly morphed into anxious feeling that was taking root in the bottom of my stomach. I could already feel the butterflies coming on. I hoped my cheeks weren't as blazing red as I felt they were.

I don't think I was as embarrassed around him as I used to be, but the amount of tension was almost unbearable.

"H-have you started studying for finals yet?" I asked in a shaky voice.

He nodded, his dark eyes fixed on me. "You?"

"I was looking through my history textbook earlier," I answered quietly as I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. Hunny was sure taking his sweet time.

Mori's gaze softened.

I fidgeted a bit more. "Do you...like history?" The way he was looking at me now seemed to express that he had a certain fondness for the subject.

"Ah," he replied in his deep voice, "it's my favorite subject."

A long pause followed.

I put my hands behind my back to prevent myself from dumbly twiddling my thumbs in front of him.

Shockingly, Mori was the one to pick our modest conversation back up.

He leaned forward a bit. "Do you need help studying?"

"Eh?" What caught me more off guard than him speaking more than three words at a time was that he would ask a question like that. I rolled my teeth over my bottom lip. "W-well, yeah...but I don't want to trouble anyone over it..."

He nonchalantly heaved his broad shoulders up and down. "It wouldn't be too much trouble."

My breath was stuck in my throat. I didn't know what to say. In all honesty, the idea of Mori tutoring me made me ecstatic, but what about his own studies? Wasn't that more important than helping a second year high school student who failed most of her subjects in her first year and was retaking them?

"I appreciate the offer," I began in a timid tone, "but I don't want to take up your time."

He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, but I understood what the subtle facial expression meant. His settle glare was almost as powerful and persuasive as Hunny's puppy dog eyes.

He was downright troublesome and stubborn to boot. I bit the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from giggling at him.

I conceded my defeat with a small, pleasant smile. "Fine, you win."

The corners of his lips upturned slightly and his brows relaxed.

"I'M BA-ACK!" Hunny announced gleefully as he returned with something in his hand. "Here you go, Nyo-chan. It's an omamori. Takashi says they're good luck."

I raised an eyebrow as I held the cloth covered amulet that was enclosed with papers and pieces of wood that had prayers transcribed on it. I knew an omamori was supposed to bring good luck to the bearer on specific occasions, when I was little I used to get them when I went to visit shrines. I examined the writing on one side of the amulet to see what the particular task this one was supposed to bring good luck in and I grinned when I recognized the characters. This omamori was supposed to bring me luck with my studies.

"You're going to work hard, ne?"

"Yeah," I replied as my gaze shifted back to Mori, "I'll do my best."

**XXXXXX**

Madeleines are like small cakes with a shell-like shape from being baked in pans with shell-like depressions. And yes, they are delicious. :D

Musical Inspiration- that new Disturbed CD, _Indestructible _

I'm surprised I had time to write this chapter. Granted, college has just started and I anticipate that the workload will start to pile up as the weeks go on. It also helps that I HAVEN'T MADE ANY FRIENDS YET. So I have loads of free time. -sadface-

In other _more cheerfu_l news, I've been sitting on the idea of a KyoyaXOC story (a _short story_ that would be no where near the length of this monstrous story) for the better part of a year and due to my lack of social life there's a possibility that I might actually write it. -LE GASP!- We shall see, eh?

And I'm still debating how to handle the "Kei situation", as I like to call it. I have lots of ideas, but which to choose...? Hmm.

Peace out.


	33. Dalliance

Over 100,000 words...I think that qualifies me as officially insane.

And yeah, this story is in it's homestretch. Only a few more chapters to go. (FINALLY!) :3

**XXXXXX**

Episode 33 of Luckiest Loser

Dalliance

"Is your boyfriend coming over today?" my brother asked through a mouthful of soup.

I brandished my spoon threateningly at him. "He's not my boyfriend!" I always found it peculiar how squabbling with my little brother could reduce my demeanor and mindset to that of a preteen girl.

Tetsushi shoved another spoonful of soup into his mouth. "Uh-huh." He rolled his eyes.

"Don't make fun of her," Osen scolded with the edges of her lips down turned as she came over and playfully ruffled my hair. "After all, today is a very special day for our wonderful sister."

I groaned in dismay and hid my eyes behind my hand. "Not you too..."

She whisked away my half eaten bowl of soup with a devilish smirk. "Now, why don't you run upstairs and change into something more suitable?"

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing now?"

My older sister exchanged a skeptical glance with my brother before quickly her eyes in the opposite direction. My brother also tried to avoid my gaze.

"Okay, okay! I get the hint!" I exclaimed as I threw up my hands in defeat. Since when was wearing a pair of jeans, sneakers and a shirt considered unsuitable for studying?

I left the kitchen and trudged upstairs to my bedroom, scowling and cursing under my breath the entire way.

When I entered my bedroom I saw that my sister, out of the kindness of her heart, had set out an outfit for me on my bed.

Osen had a nasty habit of concerning herself with matters that I thought were none of her business. Perhaps she thought it was part of her sisterly duty, but I found it flat out annoying more often than not.

Hopefully, she and Tetsushi would be gone soon. She still had some wedding shopping to do, she didn't tell me the specifics and I didn't care enough to ask, and I had successfully convinced her to forcefully take the annoying little hellion along. My parents were also going to be out of the house until the late evening taking care of things at the bakery with Arisa so I would have the house all to myself for a good six solid hours.

I didn't even bother giving the clothes that Osen had laid out on my bed a second glance, but I supposed it would only be polite to change into something less casual.

I quickly discarded the clothes I was wearing into my hamper before changing into a pair of denim capris and a red blouse, which most likely belonged to my sister at one point, but was still in considerably good condition.

"Osen, is this okay?" I asked my sister curiously as I descended the staircase with my mouth skewed to the side.

She studied me with a pout. She was visibly disappointed that I had chosen to ignore the garments she had put on my bed. "I suppose."

"What's that mean?"

"It means that it's better than what you were wearing before."

"That's good, right?"

"Mhmm."

Yeah, she was upset with me.

I shrugged it off. My sister and I definitely had different opinions on what we deemed an acceptable outfit. Oh well.

I observed her gather up her wallet, purse, and car keys with vague interest.

"Tetsushi, we're leaving!" my sister called as she made her way to the front door as I followed her because I had nothing better to do.

My brother came over reluctantly with an irritated scowl on his face, like he was walking to his death. The idea of spending his entire afternoon shopping as opposed to playing video games wasn't entirely too enticing for him. It was understandable and I did pity him a bit.

"Quit looking so distressed," I jabbed him in the shoulder with my elbow. "It's not going to kill you."

He puffed out his cheeks childishly and remained silent as he dragged himself out of the house.

I stifled a chuckle at my poor younger brother's expense.

"Oh, and before I forget," my sister began with her hand on the door knob and looking over her shoulder at me with a devilish glint in her brown eyes, "you have to try on a bridesmaid's dress tomorrow."

"You're joking."

"Haha, you wish."

I slapped my forehead. "Fu-"

"I'll see you later, Nodoka." And with that, she slammed the door triumphantly.

* * *

I was still fuming at the concept of trying on a dress by the time the doorbell rang. I wasn't especially keen to the idea especially after the treatment I had endured at the Twin's mansion. It had been so awkward to wear something so flashy like that and receiving all that unwanted attention made me feel so out of place. I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to shove my shapeless figure into a dress anyway or what was so "cute" about it.

However, when I opened the front door and saw Mori, all the horrible thoughts of wearing dresses and looking foolish in front of everyone vanished instantly.

I put my hands behind my back and gave him a cheesy grin. "Umm, hi."

He returned my greeting with a small, polite smile. I wanted to melt.

His black hair was tousled and he was wearing dark washed jeans, a blue and white rugby shirt with the collar unbuttoned and a black messenger bag slung over his shoulder. I was so used to seeing him in his uniform that getting to see him wearing more relaxed attire was a visual treat for my eyes.

I stood in the doorway awkwardly for a few moments, my cheeks tinted red in abashment and my heart fluttering. It took me a while to remember why he was here because I was so thrilled to see him.

"Uh, you can come in," I stammered as I sidestepped out of the way to let him pass.

He walked past me and stopped in the hallway to wait for me.

I closed the door and caught up with him, beaming like an idiot the entire time.

"Do you want something to drink?" I asked as I watched him place his book bag on the couch as we entered the living room.

He put his hands in his pants pockets and tilted his head to the side. "No thanks."

I scratched my temple with my index finger, embarrassed. "Oh, okay..."

Nervously, my fingers began playing with the hem of my blouse, which was an action that was becoming something like a nervous twitch for me. This was driving me crazy!

I thought I was finally getting over feeling like a puddle of mush in his presence. Apparently not.

Or maybe I was just super anxious because we were alone together in my house. Not that I was expecting anything to happen, of course.

When I directed my gaze back up at him I noticed that his eyelids looked like they were getting heavier with every passing second.

I shot a concerned look at him. "Are you tired?"

Mori rubbed his left eye with the back of his hand. "Ah." Meaning something along the lines of "a little bit".

I frowned. "How much sleep did you get last night?"

"Mhmm."

I quirked an eyebrow.

"Four hours," he answered in a somber, heavy tone.

I softened my expression. Why did he come here if he was so sleep deprived? It's not like tutoring me was that important. I would've been happy to postpone it or forgo it altogether if it meant he would be well rested for his own exams.

I immediately stiffened when I felt a warm hand touch my cheek.

Slowly, I turned my head towards Mori with a perplexed expression. My eyebrows were raised, my eyes were wide, and my lips were slightly parted in surprise.

"What are you..." I trailed off when I realized how close his face was to mine and pulled away from him. I placed my hand on my cheek where he had touched me. "Uhh, Mori? Are you feeling alright?" I edged away from him carefully. He clearly wasn't acting like his usual stoic self.

This had to be a dream. It was either that or my sister had slipped me some hallucinogenic drug in the mushroom soup she had served for lunch earlier today...

"Of course I feel fine," he replied as he came in closer to me, closing the small gap I had created between us. "Don't be silly."

For Mori to act this friendly and forward was just downright weird.

He took one of my hands in his and held it gingerly. "Your hand is so petite."

For a second, I couldn't think of anything to say. He had officially left me speechless.

_GAH! Don't say things like that!_

I thought I was going to faint or have a heart attack at this rate.

Wait, scratch that.

I already felt like my heart was in cardiac arrest.

"Obviously," I stuttered, my heart pounding in my chest as I struggled to resist his strange advancements. "You're big and I'm small so it makes sense that my hands are-"

"-tiny." he finished for me with a small grin. "I think it's cute." He stroked the back of my hand with his thumb as his long fingers curled around my small, diminutive ones.

I could feel my cheeks heat up as I tugged my hand out of his grasp. I stumbled back a bit and I found the back of my legs hitting the sofa. I slumped down into the cushions and leaned as far back from him as possible in a horrible attempt (and hope) to disappear.

Gripping the back of the sofa above my shoulder with one of his giant hands and placing the other in the space between my arm and my torso, he leaned down dangerously close to me. I could feel his hot breath tickling my face and I saw a slight tinge of pink appearing on his cheeks.

"You're cute."

Haha, that's nice. Flattery won't get you anywhere.

Wait...

WHAT?

"M-mori, stop joking around." _You're freaking me the hell out!_

He smiled sweetly at me before leaning in further to whisper in my ear. "I'm serious. You're really, really..."

He voice drifted off and he didn't finish his sentence even though I was hanging on his every word. Instead, a split second later I felt his forehead thud rather painfully against my shoulder and I could hear his quiet breathing resonating in one of my ears. My face contorted in confusion. He had fallen asleep? I was torn between being upset and relieved.

"Mori?" I gently shook him with my trembling hands.

He stirred a little, but didn't wake.

I stared down at him, his head laid between my shoulder and the nape of my neck and faced in towards me. I could sense the bright red blush creeping across my face. One of his arms was draped over the couch while the other rested lazily by my hip. It was a strange sleeping position, but the poor guy must have been exhausted to have fallen asleep like this and on top someone too for that matter.

At first, I was shocked at how surprisingly light he seemed for someone as tall as him, but after a while of feeling his body weight pressed against me I started to feel claustrophobic.

...and faintly like I was being crushed. I was tiny in comparison to his large, well-built frame.

As tenderly as I could and without causing him to wake, I pushed him away, which proved to be quite a difficult feat and a real test of my pathetic strength.

Mori slowly fell back on to the couch cushions, still asleep and lightly snoring.

I stared at him in disbelief as he slumbered and I rubbed my sore shoulder.

What the heck was that? It was like a nuclear explosion had gone off somewhere in my brain. Whatever that was, it surely wasn't natural for him to behave like that.

Did Mori have some type of mechanical breakdown while I wasn't looking?

Quickly, I stood up and studied him with my eyebrows knitted together. He was sleeping peacefully, his limbs sprawled out over the couch and his head now laying on one of the side cushions. His face was more relaxed than I had ever seen and his chest gradually rose up and down as he breathed. Well, breathing was always a good sign, right?

I exhaled heavily, folded my arms across my chest and shook my head.

"You're really troublesome, you know that?" I scolded him in vain.

Of course, I wasn't expecting him to answer that because he was out like a light.

I stood motionless in the middle of the living room as the minutes trickled past.

What should I do? Should I get him a blanket? A proper pillow?

I watched his sleeping form with an odd curiosity. I didn't have any of the Host Club member's phone numbers, Tamaki being the sole exception, and I didn't want to bother Haruhi when she could be seriously studying. It would've been great if I had been able to call Hunny to confirm if it was normal for Mori's personality to change so drastically. Okay, maybe 'normal' wasn't the word I was looking for here, but I just wanted to know if this was anything to be alarmed about or not.

Since there wasn't anything I could do at the moment besides letting my brain get over the shock of what had happened, I decided to migrate into the kitchen with my history textbook to avoid accidentally waking him up.

I had been looking forward to studying with him all week so now that it wasn't an option at the moment I was pretty disappointed. I heaved a long sigh. Nothing ever went according to plan whenever any of the Host Club members were involved. I wanted to spend time with him, I wanted to get to know him better. Wanting to do those things with the guy you liked was normal, right? Even if he already said that he couldn't return my feelings.

_Focus, Nodoka, focus! You need to get at least eighty percent on all of your exams and at this rate you're going to fail!_

In order to keep myself focused on studying, I tried my best to forget that you-know-who was sleeping away in my living room so peacefully. Surprisingly, I found that reading was a wonderful distraction from thinking about him.

The next two hours passed by quickly without so much of a peep out of Mori. He must have really been drained to be taking such a long nap. Perhaps I should have offered him a cup of coffee when he had first arrived even though he had declined my offer for a drink.

"Ah, Nodoka."

I looked up from my textbook to see Mori standing in the doorway with one hand scratching the back of his head. He still seemed tired, but not nearly as much as he had before. His blank expression clearly indicated that he remembered nothing that had occurred. I didn't know whether to be happy or disappointed.

I bowed my head slightly as a bead of sweat slid down the side of my temple. "Sorry, you fell asleep and I didn't want to disturb you so I moved in here."

He cricked his neck and grunted. It certainly seemed like he had gone back to normal.

I closed my textbook and chewed thoughtfully on my bottom lip. "Look, I appreciate you coming over to help me study and everything, but I don't want you to do it at your own expense. Sleep is important." In your case, sleep is _very_ important.

He ran a stiff hand through his short black hair. "I-"

He was interrupted by a loud, abrupt knock on the front door. What rotten timing. Sometimes, I wondered if the universe was conspiring against me, but I decided to leave my paranoid delusions alone for now so I could ponder them another day.

I exhaled heavily in annoyance and cocked my head to the side before glancing over at the tall senior, whose glazed eyes were directed at the tiled floor.

"I'll be right back," I said softly as I got up and made me way through the kitchen. Mori turned to his side to let me pass through the doorway and I tried to keep a straight face as I went by him. After witnessing such perverse behavior from him earlier, I wanted to appear to be unaffected by it so he would not suspect anything.

As soon as I opened the front door, I wished that I hadn't.

I was instantly greeted in a non-too-friendly manner by the last person on the planet I ever wanted to see again.

"Do you always greet your visitors with a look of disgust on your face?" I could smell the alcohol in his breath and I resisted the urge to gag.

"No...not really. Only you."

He gave a hoarse laugh as his body swayed, I had no doubt that he probably staggered his way over here just barely able to keep himself from falling over on the sidewalk like the stupid drunkard he was.

Why was it whenever he got drunk he felt the need to bother me? Was he feeling sentimental? Regretful? Or did he just want to serve as a personal constant reminder that I was helplessly weak girl that he maliciously enjoyed harassing?

His dark brown hair was longer than I had remembered it and it looked rather shaggy now, too. There was a large bruise on the side of his face, courtesy of my over protective cousin. I vaguely wondered how I could ever thought he was attractive.

"What?" he snapped furiously. "You're looking at this, right?" He pointed to the discolored flesh on his face. "Yeah, your jackass of a cousin sucker punched me."

There's no denying that you deserved it, I thought bitterly. I knew better than to say something that provoking aloud. I certainly didn't have a death wish.

Kei grabbed my arm, I could feel his fingernails as they dug into my forearm and I squirmed from the sharp pain.

He pulled me forward and I nearly tripped over the steps. "You're coming with me right now."

**XXXXXX**

OH GAWD, I THINK I JUST KILLED NODOKA'S BRAIN. D8

But I had to do it at some point, eh?

Musical Inspiration- _Hella Good _by No Doubt

Art supplies are expensive, srsly. And my school's Anime Club is badass. That is all.

Peace out.


	34. Safe

Episode 34 of Luckiest Loser

Safe

My organs felt like they were moving around inside of my body like a squirm of eels. Just being around him was enough to make me feel physically ill.

His fingernails felt like sharp teeth that were firmly rooted in my arm and as he dragged me towards the sidewalk I kept wincing in pain.

I tried to wriggle out of his grip and when I couldn't I decided to yell. "Kei! Stop-"

"Shut up!" he turned around and snapped at me. His dark eyes glared fiercely at me and he gritted his teeth. He then frowned, loosened his grip on my arm, and ran his other hand over his face in exasperation. "I didn't mean that...I..."

"It sounded like you meant it to me..." I trailed off when I noticed his eyes flash dangerously at me.

"Look," he growled, "I like you and I don't want to break up." His claw-like fingers tightened around my forearm once more.

I snorted. You've got to be kidding me. YOU'VE GOT TO BE FREAKING KIDDING ME!

"Where do you get off saying these kinds of things to me?" Normally, when it came to Kei, I was quite passive and I was keen to let him walk all over me because I was spineless, but I was getting beyond pissed at him. I thought that I had hated him before, but that was nowhere near as intense as the feelings of anger and disgust I was harboring for him at that exact moment.

"I like you," he reiterated in a calmer, politer tone, "and I don't want to break-"

My fingers curled into fists and I jerked away from him, finally escaping his horrible grasp. I took a few shaky steps back to create some space between us, just in case he was going to attempt throwing a punch at me because I knew my next words would make him unbelievably infuriated. "You don't know what you're saying. I don't want to date someone who says 'I like you' so easily one second and then the next second thinks it's alright to drink and take out their anger on me. That's not what I want at all."

I stood my ground in front of him and waited. Inside my head, common sense was screaming at me to turn on my heel and run away before he had the chance to do anything, but I felt a bit braver today. Maybe today would be the day that I could finally get rid of him.

He furrowed his brows, I saw the anger flash in his eyes. "What?"

I gulped and my body started to tremble. Okay, maybe I wasn't so brave after all. "I said that-"

"That's not what I meant," he stepped forward menacingly, "I heard what you said, I just don't believe it."

My body was shaking as if the air temperature around us had abruptly dropped twenty degrees.

Without warning, his mouth crashed into mine. I wriggled, squirmed, punched, and kicked as he tried to kiss me. I hated the feeling of him trying to force his mouth on mine. It was gross. Disgusting. I wanted to retch. This was so wrong.

Finally, I managed to push his face away from mine and I shouted the first thing that came to my mind.

"MORI!"

"What did you say?" Kei grabbed my face, his eyebrows narrowed and a nasty scowl tugging at the corners of his lips.

I shut my eyes and cringed when I saw him raise a fist in the air, fearing for the worst. My brain immediately began racking through excuses I would tell my parents when they saw another horrible bruise on my face.

_I got hit in the face by a ball again..._

_I walked into a telephone pole..._

Sometimes I had difficultly believing that my parents had bought these pathetic excuses in the past.

The impact of his fist never came and I breathed a sigh of relief before cracking one eye slowly before the other.

A soft gasp escaped my lips when I saw that Mori was protectively standing in front of me. One of his arms was out at his side, signaling to me to stay behind him. My eyes focused on his broad shoulders and traveled down to the widened stance of his feet. His body stance appeared strangely confrontational, usually he would slouch a little or he would have his hands casually in his pockets. It was a little unnerving to finally see him taking advantage of his tall stature in order to intimidate someone.

"Stay out of this!" Kei spat as he dropped his raised arm to his side. "This has nothing to do with you!"

Mori's body seemed to tense up in agitation. He tilted his head down, I couldn't see the expression on his face (or if there was even was one present), but the sharp tone of his voice was more than adequate enough to supply me with a faint idea of what was going through his head. "What makes you think that hitting a girl is appropriate behavior?"

"Get lost, this is none of your-"

Mori grabbed Kei by his shirt collar and nearly lifted him off his feet. He then lowered his head and whispered something I couldn't hear into Kei's ear. I saw his lips moving, but I heard no sound. However, judging by Kei's petrified reaction, I was probably better off not being able to eavesdrop.

Mori released Kei and my poor ex-boyfriend fell right down on his rear from shock before scrambling back up onto his feet moments later. Kei shot one more resentful look at Mori before turning on his heel and running down the street.

My eyes followed him until he vanished from my sight then I stared back at Mori. I rolled my teeth over my bottom lip. Was it really over that easily?

As soon as he turned around the first thing that I noticed was the unforgiving look in his eyes. It was scary. I had thought that it was almost impossible for such a gentle giant to appear so...so...infuriated. I felt myself shudder involuntarily. His relentless glare was terrifying even though it wasn't directed at me.

Without a word, he effortlessly picked me up in his arms in one sweeping fluid motion.

I stayed still like a doll, afraid to speak or move for fear it would irritate him more. I knew he wouldn't yell at me or harm me physically like Kei would, but I didn't want to cause him more distress so I kept my mouth shut.

He walked down the street back to my house and it was then that I noticed how far I had let Kei drag me before yelling for help. Was I really that stupid? I should have yelled for Mori the instant I opened the door. It would have saved both of us a lot of trouble if I had more common sense.

Now, on top of being frightened and anxious, I was also ridden with guilt. Great.

He paused and stood in the entrance hallway of my home and held me in his arms longer than was necessary since I knew I was perfectly capable of standing up on my own two feet.

What was going through his mind?

Usually I would have dwelled more on that question, but I was still scared after my encounter with Kei. I couldn't fight him off by himself. If I hadn't called for Mori my face would be bruised again. What if he came back? What if he never left me alone? I didn't want to live in fear and let him control my life, but that seemed like the way it was going to be unless by some stroke of good fortune something awful happened to him.

After a few unnervingly quiet minutes, Mori reluctantly put me down on the floor.

He looked disgruntled, the thin crinkle in his forehead was a clear indication of that.

I could feel his eyes examining me, but I was too emotionally exhausted to care if he thought I looked like a wreck at that moment with tousled hair and crinkled clothes.

"Nodoka," his voice was stern yet kind, "I won't let him bother you again."

My eyes widened in surprise. I looked up at him and blinked. "W-what?" I could see the determined look gleaming in his dark eyes.

"I promise he'll never lay his hands on you again." He took my small trembling hand in his and softly stroked my knuckles with his thumb. He squeezed my fingers gently and a pleasant tingle shot through my body. However, even his soothing presence and touch weren't able to calm my nerves completely this time around.

"I'm sorry," I whispered pathetically as I wiped my watery eyes with the back of my other hand. "I'm just really freaked out right now."

He nodded to indicate that he understood, but he didn't let go of my hand. His hand was so warm in comparison to my own, which was cold and clammy.

I was still scared, I knew I shouldn't have been anymore with Mori standing in front of me, but the lingering effect of the encounter with Kei made my legs shake uncontrollably and the rest of my body flinch at random moments. My eyes started tearing up again.

I lowered my head as I felt a few globules of tears slide down my red checks. I raised my hand to my face like a visor to hide my eyes from his view.

"I'm sorry," I repeated in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry..."

Here he was trying to comfort me and I was blubbering like an idiot. It was embarrassing to be crying like this, especially in front of the guy I liked. I'm sure I seemed like a helpless child in his eyes.

Was it wrong for me to act this way before him even after he promised to protect me?

Mori slipped his free arm around my shoulders and pulled me in towards his chest. "Nodoka," he grunted firmly, "stop apologizing."

His arm was around me, holding me, hugging me, trying to make me feel safe and secure.

My face was already a bright shade of red and sticky from crying, but now I could feel a burning sensation spreading across my cheeks as my heart pounded against my ribcage. I was hesitant to lean against him, but at the same time I wanted to feel the comfort of an embrace, _his embrace_. My nerves were still jittery, I think he could tell because he kept lightly squeezing my hand every now and then.

A an overwhelming muddle of emotions were heavy in my heart. It felt like they were overflowing, though I tried hard to suppress them.

Was he hugging me like this only to comfort me? Or was he too fighting to suppress something? I couldn't see his eyes so I couldn't tell.

It was stupid to hope for something more. I wanted him to feel as attached to me as I was to him in that moment.

"Mori?"

"Ah?" he softly grunted.

"Thank you." My shoulders heaved up and down every time I sniffled as I tried to hold back more tears.

Why was I feeling so sad?

Or was this relief?

He let go of my hand and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me in closer and tightening the embrace. The side of my face was pressed against his chest. There was no more distance between us and I could hear the rhythmic beating of his heart in my ear.

_Ba-dump, ba-dump, b__a-dump..._

I wondered if he could hear mine as well.

My arms hung lifelessly at my sides. I was unsure how to react, but eventually I gave into my desire and put my arms around him. Due to the height difference, my arms ended up being fastened around the middle of his back as I finally let go of all my inhibitions and worries and gave into the overpowering feeling that was surging inside me.

He rested his chin on my head and I heard him slowly exhale.

I closed my eyes, I had never felt this safe or protected in my life. It was an incredibly snug feeling and I was content with it. I never wanted to let go.

* * *

I sat on the staircase with elbows propped up on my knees and my chin in my hands. I bit my bottom lip. A deep red blush was still evident on my face. My body was warm, warmer than it usually was. My fingers still tingled from his touch.

In my head the image of him walking out of the front door, pausing in the doorway, then looking over his shoulder and smiling sincerely at me replayed itself as if it was on an infinite loop.

And then the final words he said as he stood in the doorway echoed heavily in head.

_"Please wait a little longer."_

He knew what my reply was going to be without me having to say anything. There had always been a sense of wordless communication between us that had only gotten stronger over time.

Yes, I decided with a goofy grin plastered on my flustered face while I leaned the side of my head against the banister, I could wait for you for a bit longer.

**XXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _Carpal Tunnel of Love _by Fall Out Boy

aksdjKDJFKSLJFDKLJRROOOMMAAANNNCCCCCEEEEEE (this is supposed to be a romance story, riiiight?)

Sorry about the wait.

In other less interesting news, I have epic amounts of snot oozing out of my nose and all over my final exams and final papers. X3

Peace out.


	35. Surprise Visitor

Episode 35 of Luckiest Loser

Surprise Visitor

I stopped on the street corner and waited for the light to change. My arms were behind my back and my hands were holding the handle of my book bag. I tapped my foot on the concrete sidewalk.

Exams were finally over and now all I had to do was wait for my scores. My palms were sweaty. I had never been so nervous or anxious about test scores before, but if I didn't manage to get eighty percent in all of my subjects then my mother wouldn't let me go to Hunny's and Mori's graduation party...

And after that little incident with Kei last week, I found studying by myself to be difficult. It wasn't because my head was filled with thoughts of Kei though, it was because of Mori.

Then to top off all the excitement of last week, I had to try on a bridesmaid gown the very next day. I had cringed as I had tried on a shiny blue gown that barely touched the floor. It had a silver obi-type thing that was tied around the waist and navy floral patterns embroidered above the bottom hem. It wasn't that it was an ugly dress, I actually liked it a lot, but I couldn't bear to see such a nice dress on my awkward frame.

What would Mori think if he saw me in that gown? I finally had the slightest inkling that he may like me back, but what if I was wrong and I showed up at the party, confessed to him, and then get rejected _again_? That would be horribly embarrassing.

"Guhh," I slapped my forehead and shook my head back and forth, "you're over thinking it again..."

It was then that a familiar figure across the street caught my eye.

I felt my chest tighten up as if someone were trying to crush my ribcage together. My bottom lip trembled and my grip on my book bag tightened. My knuckles almost turned completely white.

His dark mop of hair and slouch were recognizable to me even from a distance.

I stared at him. He hadn't seen me yet, but he eventually felt the power of my gaze and looked up at me. Our eyes locked and I could feel the air rush into my lungs as I gasped.

He clenched his jaw.

The light changed, but neither of us made a move to cross the street or even budged an inch from our spots.

Finally, he diverted his eyes back to the ground, shoved his hands in his pockets, and quickly sulked away like an injured animal.

The pressure on my chest released as I exhaled heavily in relief and I felt a dark red blush creep across my face. What exactly had Mori said to Kei that made him avoid me like that?

The wind lifted my hair off my shoulders as it blew and my eyes could no longer find Kei across the street.

I raised my hand to my lips and lowered my gaze. I could feel my heart fluttering in my chest. I wasn't happy, but somehow I felt pleased with this new development. Maybe I didn't have to worry about Kei anymore after all.

* * *

"You're late," Mamoru scolded as he rapped his knuckled on the back of my head as soon as I reached the front of the bakery. He was in the middle of sweeping the sidewalk outside the entrance and I was thankful that he hadn't gotten the idea to swat me with the broom instead.

I gave him a miffed look as I gingerly rubbed the spot on my head where he had hit me. "I'm here now, aren't I?" Did he really have to act so abrasive whenever he saw me?

Sometimes I wondered that if I had had an older brother if he would be a lot like Mamoru. Overprotective, annoying, oddly affectionate, weird, etc. And, of course, his questionable taste in clothes and hairstyles, not that I really was one to judge on those things.

He pinched my cheek. "Don't reply to your cousin in such a disrespectful tone." He released my cheek and made a sharp jabbing gesture over his shoulder with his fist curled and his thumb sticking out. "That Haninozuka kid is in there waiting for you."

My eyes widened in surprise. "Eh? He is?" I brushed past Mamoru and pushed open the door to the bakery. Why would he be here?

"NYYOOOO-CCHHAAANNNN!"

Immediately, I found myself tackle-hugged with my back on the floor with a very eager Hunny on top of me with his arms around my waist.

"Um, hi." I said as I sat up. The entire back of my body from my neck down was now sore and the contents of my book bag were scattered on the floor.

"How did your exams go?" he asked with a bright smile as he helped me pick up all my pencils, papers, and books.

"Well, I think I did okay..." my answer was a bit shaky. I did try my best to study, but there had been too much on my mind. How could someone possibly concentrate with so many confusing thoughts going through their head? I couldn't tell him that though, it would only seem like a convenient excuse if I did poorly. I sighed, this was insane. I'm sure by now my life had become more complicated than any drama I had ever watched on television.

I began placing all my school supplies that we had gathered off the ground back into my bag. "Is that why you're here...by yourself?" I spoke the second part quietly, almost as if it were an afterthought as it occurred to me that none of the other Host Club members were here.

Hunny nodded and smiled before giving me a thoughtful expression. "I think Takashi's been wondering too."

My face reddened. "How do you know what he's thinking?"

The small blond arched an eyebrow at me before smiling brilliantly again as if to reassure me of what he had said was indeed the truth.

I think he could sense my apprehension, not that I was doing a good job of hiding it or anything, it was written across my face as plain as day. I could sense Mamoru carefully watching us through the glass doors ready to jump in at any moment.

"Nyo-chan, it will work out for the best," he assured me calmly. "And also," he leaned in, eyeing my cousin from the corners of his eyes, "I know something you could do that would make Takashi really, really happy. Do you want to know what it is?"

I furrowed my brows. I felt like he was teasing me, but I still bobbed my head up and down like an idiot.

Hunny grinned. "Call him by his first name. I'm sure he'd like that."

I squinted my eyes in disbelief at the small senior. Would Mori really like something as simple as that? Or would it be rude for me to talk to him on such a familiar basis?

"Heeey, Nyo-chan, don't give me that look. I'm not lying," he pouted.

"Are you sure that's okay? I mean," I began twiddling my fingers, "is calling him by his first name really alright? He won't get mad or think it's strange?"

"Eh? Why would he?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, it's just hard to understand him and what he feels..."

"That's true, but he'd never intentionally lead anyone on," Hunny said in slightly stern tone.

"Yeah, he doesn't seem like the type to do that," I mumbled as I hunched my shoulders over. I stood up and brushed some dust off my skirt before slinging my bag back over my shoulder. I needed to change out of my school uniform and into my casual clothes before I started work. At the thought of work, I realized that Hunny was now gazing at the baked goods behind the glass cases with a hungry gleam in his eyes. "Umm, do you want something to eat?"

He nearly jumped on me again with excitement and pumped a fist into the air. "YES, PLEASE!"

"Okay," I smirked oddly as I headed for the back of the bakery, "let me change first and then I'll get you a cake."

I entered the office that was in a state of unusual disarray and found the plastic bag my parents left in there that had my some of my spare clothes in it. I changed hastily into a pair of khaki shorts, a green and white stripped polo shirt, and a pair of worn sneakers. I put the apron on over my head then tied the strings behind my back before going to the kitchen.

When I returned, I brought out a fresh Bundt cake just for Hunny, knowing full well he was more than capable of devouring all of it by himself, and a box of melon flavored pocky for myself.

Mamoru was now behind the counter answering the phone and writing down orders. I wasn't really used to witnessing him actually doing any work so I was a bit stunned that he seemed so dedicated today.

I decided to use this to my advantage and laze around a bit more with Hunny since I usually was the only working my butt off. Arisa had the day off so it was only going to be the two of us working until closing today.

"Nyo-chan, this looks so good! Thank you!"

I set the Bundt cake down in front of him and sat down in the chair on the other side of the table. "Heh, you're welcome." I opened my box of pocky and watched as Hunny began eating his cake with such relish and enthusiasm. He really was adorable, I constantly kept finding myself doubting he was really a year older than I was.

"I don't think Takashi has tried anything you've made yet besides some natto," Hunny said in-between large mouthfuls of cake.

I skewed my lips to the side in thought after I finished a stick of pocky. "Hmm, do you think I should make him something then?"

Hunny's big brown eyes blinked at me.

"What?" I asked defensively as I tried to keep myself from furiously blushing. I felt abashed for saying something so forward and out of the blue like that in front of him.

"I'm sure he'd like it," Hunny replied, beaming at me. Then he stuck out his bottom lip and drooped his eyes. "I'd like something from Nyo-chan too..."

I regained my composure and giggled. "Yes, I'll have to think of something for you. Whatever should it be...?"

He flailed his arms around. "Cake! I want cake!"

I leaned my elbow on the table as I bit into another stick of pocky. "And a traditional dish of some kind for Mori, right?"

"He'd like that."

I felt my face heat up in embarrassment. "I hope he does."

"You like him a lot, don't you Nyo-chan?"

"Yeah..." I stuttered, trying not to let my nerves get to me. I had never held such strong romantic feelings for anyone and it was difficult to keep holding them in as time went on. At least I had finally admitted it openly to Hunny.

"I'm not too sure if your cousin approves of him though." Hunny laughed offhandedly as he spotted Mamoru staring at us from behind the counter with the phone pressed to his ear and the pen in his hand frozen over a pad of paper.

I lowered my eyelids and my voice. "He just feels guilty about something that happened in the past that's why he's like that. I didn't figure that out until recently myself." I took a stick of my pocky out of the box and gave Hunny a grave expression. "Do you approve of me?"

Hunny was silent for a few seconds before taking another huge bite of his cake. "I approve of whoever will make Takashi happy."

My face turned a bright shade of pink and I hastily broke the stick of pocky off in my mouth and avoided eye contact with him for the next couple of minutes. How could he say something like that so casually? And how did he know that I'd make Mori happy?

"You know that for sure?" I muttered as I slouched back in my chair, a half finished stick of pocky protruding from my lips.

"Okay, that's enough!" Mamoru interjected loudly as he rudely dropped a stack of empty trays on the table in front of us. "You have orders to do, stop playing around and get to work."

I stood up and slyly elbowed him in the gut before I pulled him off to the side. "What's wrong with you? I thought you liked them." I hissed at him through gritted teeth so Hunny couldn't eavesdrop on our conversation. "You seemed more than happy to leave me in Mori's capable hands earlier. Having second thoughts?"

He folded his arms across his chest. "A little."

"Why?" Up until recently, he'd been a strong advocate for Mori.

"I'm just...nervous about letting you date again." He then got comically teary eyed and held my face between his hands, squeezing my features together. "My little cousin is growing up so fast. I don't know how to cope with this!"

My days of taking Mamoru seriously were certainly coming to an end.

"I think I need to take the rest of the day off!"

A bead of sweat slid down the side of my face. "Fine, leave and take your overly dramatic personality with you!" I tore away from him and grimaced.

My cousin clung to me. "Are you sure? Though I'm having a hard time with this emotionally I'll stay if you need me!"

I shook him off. "Please, just go. I can't deal with you right now." Where did he get all this energy from? Being around him was becoming physically draining for me.

I turned him around, placed my hands firmly on his back, and directed him out of the bakery in a forceful manner.

"I'm just so worried about you. You've never been able to take care of yourself and-"

"Just go home."

"-I'm going to be letting a guy I hardly even know-"

"Go. Home. Now." A vein throbbed on my temple.

He gave me that trademark goofy smile of his before dropping the subject. "I'll see you later then?"

"You just wanted to get off work early, didn't you?" Bastard.

"Hey, hey! I don't always have ulterior motives."

"But sometimes you do."

He didn't deny it.

"You're absolutely frustrating and that isn't a compliment."

I went back inside the bakery and wiped the sweat from my brow with my apron. My cousin was terribly and utterly exhausting. I felt like collapsing right there on the floor.

Hunny chuckled. "Nyo-chan's cousin cares a lot about her. You're lucky to have someone like Mamoru to look out for you."

"Lucky? That guy's a curse," I retorted dully under my breath as I picked my box of pocky up off the table. There were only three pieces left so I leaned against the table and finished them.

I tossed the empty snack box into a nearby trash can. "I appreciate you coming by, Hunny."

"Don't mention it, I'm sure if the other club members weren't so busy they would've wanted to see you as well!" Hunny mentioned cheerfully.

I grumbled sarcastically. "Ehehe, how unfortunate..."

He finished the last little bit of his cake. "I'm sure they'll come by next time!"

"Mmhmm, can't wait."

I went to the counter and flipped through the papers Mamoru had been writing on only to find that instead of being filled with orders that he had doodled on every single piece of paper.

"Is something wrong, Nyo-chan?" the blond asked curiously.

"No, everything is peachy," I answered as I rubbed the back of my neck. Honestly, I should have known it had all been an elaborate act to get out of work early. I found myself oddly amused by his antics and I simply shook my head as I crumpled up the paper.

With no imminent work to be done today I could spend my time planning what to make Mori for his graduation party.

**XXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _Redemption _by Gackt

I am a lazy author and for that I apologize. ):

Thank you for the reviews (and your patience!).

(And yes, this story will be wrapping up soon. Maybe 3-4 more chapters? I must be crazy to write this much already. This story was only 13 chapters in my original outline. Gaaahhhhh. DX)

Peace out.


	36. Will and Determination

Episode 36 of Luckiest Loser

Will and Determination

I held my breath as my homeroom teacher handed back the exams. My fingers were crossed and my eyes were shut tightly as I waited.

I could already see some of the crestfallen expressions of some of my classmates as they saw their scores. Others, however, seemed ecstatic with their results. I hoped I would part of the second group as I impatiently squirmed in my chair.

Please, please, please let me exceed my mother's expectations.

"Good work, Sugiyama," my teacher, Wakaba-sensei, a plain looking woman in her mid-thirties with glasses, said with a smile as she placed a stack of paper on my desk. "Your grades have improved so much this year. If you keep this up I'm sure you'll get into a nice college."

"Uh, thanks!" I responded quickly as I bowed my head. I had never been praised by a teacher before so I was a little flustered and unsure how to properly reply to her.

On my Japanese History test there was a percentage scrawled in red ink on the upper right hand corner. Eighty-five percent.

I breathed a sigh of relief. That was probably the highest score I've ever gotten on a test since elementary school. It was good to know that staring blankly at a textbook all night had paid off.

Shaking from excitement, I looked at my next exam.

Biology. Eighty-one percent.

Okay, that was cutting it close, but I could live with that.

I flipped to my third test, English, and suddenly all hope of reaching my mother's expectations flew out the window.

Seventy-two percent.

Panicked, I checked the scores of my last two exams.

No. No. NO. This can't be happening.

Math. Seventy percent.

Japanese Literature. Sixty-eight percent.

The papers slipped out of my hands as my jaw dropped in horror.

Part of me knew that it was a long-shot for me to get eighty percent on all of my finals, but I had been so optimistic lately that I dared to think that I could pull it off. Bah, so much for wishful thinking. I should have seen this fail coming, really. I was disappointed in myself. What would I tell my mother? How would I explain my absence to Mori and Hunny?

I stretched my arms out in front of me, letting my hands dangle over the edge of my desk. Slowly, my head fell and thumped on my desk in despair.

What was I going to do now?

Everything that had happened in the past few weeks had depended on this moment and I let had it slip through my fingers.

My classmates chattered excitedly around me about their summer break plans with boyfriends, girlfriends, friends, and relatives while all I could think about was my impending doom at the hands of my mother and how much I let the Hunny and Mori down.

I was dead meat. My mother was going to skin me, roast me, then shove an apple in my mouth and serve me as dinner.

These were the highest final exam scores I had ever received. Ordinarily, I would be jumping up and down for joy and praising the heavens.

Instead...I felt like such a failure.

* * *

As soon as I had got home, I rushed up to my room and closed the room before collapsing on my bed. I had forgotten to remove my shoes at the doorway and my mother would probably be furious at me for tracking a few little specks of dirt into the house, but I could care less.

I hugged my stuffed animal, Kitsune, to my chest and frowned unhappily as I nuzzled my head against my pillow.

This entire situation sucked.

I was in such a rotten mood I couldn't even muster up the energy to bake Hunny a congratulatory cake or make Mori some sort of traditional Japanese dish like I promised I would.

There was a soft, timid knock on my bedroom door. The only person who was home right now was my little brother and it was a rare occurrence for him to ever come to me like this. Usually he would just barge in without warning like most obnoxious younger siblings would.

I rolled over on my side to face the door. "What?"

He cracked the door open slowly and carefully. "Can I come in?"

"I guess..." I didn't really care one way or another.

He walked into my room hesitantly and sat on the edge of my bed. He drummed his fingertips on his knees. "How did your tests go?"

"I did well, but it wasn't enough," I answered tartly.

"Oh..." he fidgeted and changed the topic. "Kei hasn't bothered you in a while."

"Mori scared him off," I said curtly before adding, "for good."

"I'm glad then. You know, they were kind of surprised to hear that you had had other boyfriends before Kei." Tetsushi mentioned as he swung his legs back and forth over the edge of my bed.

"They?"

"Mori and Hunny," he clarified for me.

I narrowed my eyes. "Why is everyone so interested in my love life?" I grumbled as I pulled a pillow over my head. "And when did this happen?"

"At the hospital a while ago. They were concerned," he answered with half closed eyes, "and you don't like to talk about any of them. I told them that Kei was the only one who gave you any real trouble, but you still had pretty lousy taste in guys."

I sighed. I couldn't deny what he had just said. Though my first two boyfriends weren't abusive, they weren't exactly nice people either. I only dated them because I was bored and I naively thought that eventually it would turn into love. Boy, was I wrong.

And here I was thinking all along that their discussion with Tetsushi had been some sort of super secret...thing. Not some discussion on my pathetic love life.

"You only talked about my boyfriends with them?" I was disappointed, however. I hadn't wanted either of them to know that I had such low standards when it came to dating.

He was quiet for a minute. "They asked about how bad it got between you and Kei before you finally broke up."

I rubbed the back of my neck. I was so ashamed of that part of my life. How could I have ever let something that horrible go on as long as it did?

"It wasn't like they were prying, they were just worried," Tetsushi said hastily, waving his hands around like a frantic little monkey. "They don't think any less of you for it, they just wanted to be able to help you. Or, at least, that's what they told me."

"They're really way too nice..." I trailed off as I thought of all the times they had helped me, all the times they had rescued me, all the the times _he_ had expressed concern over my injuries. "Mori..." I whispered in a hardly audible tone as images of his face flooded my mind.

My little brother exhaled heavily. "You like _him_, right?"

"Yeah..." I replied airily as I flipped over onto my back, tossing the pillow aside. "Like" wasn't exactly the word I'd use to describe how I felt about Mori. My feelings for him were so much more stronger than that. I didn't know how to put it into words without sounding incredibly cheesy.

"Then why don't you go anyway?" He threw his hands up in the air. "You probably won't get a chance like this ever again!"

I sat up and stared at him awkwardly for a few seconds. He wasn't usually the type to get so enthusiastic over these sort of things. How suspicious.

"Osen put you up to this, didn't she?" I wasn't a complete idiot, I could tell when my sister's handiwork was in play.

He looked away nervously. I saw some of the color drain from his face.. "She just gave me a few flash cards and told me to practice what to say in order to encourage you in case you didn't pass all your finals..."

"Hm, figures. You were acting way too mature for your age." I muttered with a minor twinge of irritation in my facial expression.

"So..." he continued casually as he folded his arms across his chest, "are you gonna go?"

I shrugged and put my arms behind my head as I laid back down on the bed. "Dunno. I'll get into a heap of trouble if I do."

"If you don't go you're just going to mope around here like a wet cat," my brother berated me as he jabbed the side of my ribs.

"Are you forgetting the part where our mother ribs me limb from limb?" I grumbled as I furrowed my brows and skewed my mouth to the side. I wanted to die of old age, not murder at the hands of my mother.

The little brat threw a pillow at me. "Stop being so stubborn and go!" I had never seen my brother look so angry at me. Sure, we had gotten into arguments in the past where we had gone for weeks without speaking to one another, but this was different. "I don't want to see my sister dating another idiot like, Kei!"

I winced. What a low blow.

"Hey, hey, calm down." I said in a comforting tone. I got off the bed and sat down on my knees in front of him. I put my hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "That's not going to happen."

He lowered his eyes and frowned sadly. "Really?"

I nodded. "I know I'm not exactly a genius, but I'm not stupid enough to make that mistake again. Besides, I'm getting a little better at this whole standing up for myself thing recently." I forced a chuckle in an effort to lighten the sudden serious mood that had filled my room.

"But you're still not going to go," he said quietly.

"It's not that simple, you don't..." I couldn't finish the sentence. He knew the consequences I would have to deal with if I went without permission.

"I want you to go. I want you to be happy."

I leaned forward and hugged him. He buried his face in the crook of my neck and I rubbed his back.

"Where did you learn to be so stubborn, Sushi?"

"From you."

I laughed. Fair enough.

I pulled back and grinned at him. "Okay, I'll go, but only because I'm sure you and everyone else will never leave me alone if I don't." I didn't even want to begin to think about how mercilessly Ranka-san would tease me if I backed out. I glanced at my wristwatch. "I should make it just in time if I run," I said thoughtfully as I left my room and started down the stairs, going two-to-three steps a time.

"You're not seriously going to run all the way there?" Tetsushi asked in disbelief as he wiped his watery eyes with his sleeve. I could hear his footsteps following closely behind me.

"How else am I supposed to get there?" I yelled at him over my shoulder as I threw open the front door. I began sprinting down the sidewalk.

I needed closure. I had to be sure Mori fully understood my feelings because I wasn't sure when I'd be able to see him again after this. I couldn't let him disappear from my life after he graduated because I...because I...

Stupidly, I tripped over a small crack in the sidewalk and landed on my arms and knees. Way to go, Nodoka. You always manage to make yourself look like an idiot. At least no one saw you this time.

I stood back up and brushed myself off a bit then started running again.

It wasn't just the crack that had made me trip, it was a startling realization that had made me momentarily lose focus. A realization that was so obvious. Why hadn't I seen it before?

This feeling that I had for him that was stronger than just liking someone.

I picked up my pace as my face turned bright red. My breathing was already becoming ragged and my heart was beating frantically.

The more I thought about it the more it made sense. It wasn't a feeling that had developed right away. It was something that had happened gradually over the course of many weeks.

I finally understood how deep of an affection I had for Mori.

I was in love with him. Madly, deeply, and hopelessly in love with him.

"Use your common sense and take the bus, idiot!" Tetsushi shouted after me from the doorway, but his voice already sounded so faraway.

* * *

I nearly leapt off of the bus as soon as the door opened. The sun had started to set and the air around me felt chilly. An occasional gust of wind blew by me, making strands of my hair fly out in front of my eyes. It was a minor annoyance that kept making me tuck those stray locks of hair behind my ear as I ran.

My legs ached and throbbed. Each step I took got heavier and heavier, but I had to keep going. I was so close.

Thankfully, my memory of how to get to his estate didn't give out as I recalled the time Hunny had shown me the way when I had forgotten.

I skidded to a stop in front of the mansion and tightened my hands into fists again. I could feel my fingernails digging into my palms as I tried to let go of my anxiety. My stomach felt knotted. My legs felt like melted jello.

I marched up to the front door and curiously eyed a huge, decorative white sign that was set up in front that had huge, black cursive letters on it. My english wasn't very good, but I tried my best to decipher it.

I squinted my eyes. "Welcome to...something...Morinozuka, Takashi's and...Haninozuka, Mitsukuni's...something that starts with a g...party..." Damn, no wonder I didn't get an 80 percent on my English final. Most of the cursive might as well just have been random scribbles to me. There was more written on it, but I was too lazy to try and read it.

"Eh, Nodoka-san?" a startled voice said from behind me.

I perked up at the sound of my name.

"S-Satoshi!" My eyes widened as Mori's younger brother approached me. He was wearing a classic black tuxedo and he looked quite handsome in it.

"Ah, you're here for the party, right?" he beamed at me. "It just started. And why are you wearing your uniform?"

My face paled as I looked down at the clothes as I was wearing. Of all the stupid things I've done in my life, this definitely ranked in the top five. Not only was I still in my uniform, but my knees and arms were smeared with dirt from when I had tripped earlier. This was just perfect. Now what was I supposed to do?

A few girls, classmates of Mori's and Hunny's I presumed, strutted into the mansion in fancy, colorful ball gowns. Their hair twisted up into elegant knots and expertly applied makeup. I could hear their high heels clacking down the hallway as they giggled excitedly. Unlike me, they probably were so used to heels that they would never stumble or trip.

I slumped down onto the ground and buried my face in my hands.

What had I been thinking? I didn't belong here.

Satoshi knelt down next to me. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, troubled by my abrupt distressed attitude and crouched posture.

I violently shook my head back and forth. No, don't think like that, Nodoka. You have to do this or you'll just end up regretting it!

I needed to stop being so negative. Sure, Mori had rejected me once in the past and it had hurt, I hadn't forgotten about that. But why else would he ask me to wait just a bit longer unless he shared some of my feelings? I had to make sure, I had to know or else I would beat myself over it for the rest of my life.

"I can't give up!" I sprung up with my fists clenched and raised slightly in the air, a fiery determination blazing in my eyes. My abrupt action had startled Satoshi so much he had fallen backwards. "I came all the way here and I'm not going to lose my nerve now!"

Satoshi, although he had no clue as to what I was referring to, bounced back up onto his feet as well. "That's the spirit, Nodoka-san! But I don't have any idea what you're talking about..."

"I have to tell him how I feel and if he rejects me again then at least I'll know that I tried and that's better than sitting on my ass and having done nothing whatsoever!"

"-uh, that's great Nodoka-san, but what-"

"Okay!" I pounded my fists together. "I can do this!"

"I don't know what's going on..." Satoshi mumbled faintly as I took off speed walking down the long hallways of the Morinozuka mansion.

I could hear music playing. They must have gotten an orchestra just for this occasion. I wasn't all that familiar with classical music, but I was pretty sure they were playing some type of waltz.

I passed several elegant ice sculptures and dodged several waiters carrying trays of food and drink to the guests.

It seemed odd to me though. I was fairly certain that Mori was the type who appreciated traditional Japanese things, this party seemed to incorporate too many mainstream customs than he would have probably liked. I almost drooled at the mental image of him in a yukata or in his kendo uniform. Yes, traditional Japanese garb definitely suited him better.

As I whipped around a turn without paying attention to where I was going, I collided into a tall, immovable object. I was about to fall backwards from the impact when someone caught my arm.

"Be careful."

I blinked a few times and timidly gazed upwards as I knew immediately who I had bumped into from our past encounters. Also, that deep voice was recognizable anywhere.

Mori stared down at me with the same stoic, poker-face he always had, but I saw a small smile curling up the edges of his lips.

I already sensed a deep blush creeping across my face when I locked eyes with him. If I had thought Satoshi looked handsome in a tuxedo then there were absolutely no words known to mankind to describe how great Mori looked in one. He had a hand on his hip and his smoldering eyes were focused solely on me. He had such an intense presence, but he was so kind and caring that I easily able to overlook how intimidating he sometimes appeared.

He let go of my arm and for a while there was only silence between us as we stood in the middle of the hallway facing each other.

My face was bright red and I wasn't able to stop myself from trembling. My palms were sweaty and my heart pounded against my ribcage.

I was out of breath, exhausted, and looked like I had no regard for my personal hygiene.

He was right in front of me, less than a foot away, and all I could do at that moment was shake uncontrollably.

Okay, Nodoka, I told myself, you need to have a backbone just this once. You need to tell him how you feel as clearly as you can. No matter how sick to your stomach you feel...you need to tell him.

I adored so many aspects of him and I eagerly wanted to learn more about the parts of him that I wasn't so familiar with. I wanted to spend time with him. I wanted to bake and cook for him. I wanted to hear his voice more often. I wanted to feel his strong, protective embrace again. I wanted to love him and be loved.

Without thinking, I reached my hands up, caressed his checks, and slowly guided his face closer to mine. I kissed him softly on the lips before withdrawing slightly and all I could see was his gentle expression. His dark eyes were glazed over, his eyebrows were arched up ever so slightly in surprise, and his lips were parted a bit. His face felt warm against my hands.

"I love you, Takashi."

**XXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _Your Hand In Mine _by Explosions In The Sky

It was high time for an update, don't you think? Sorry, I haven't been in a really productive mood for a long time. ):

ANYWAY, MOVING ON.

Seriously, thank you all for reading and reviewing. 296 favorites and 324 alerts for this story, FEELS GOOD MAN.

And yes, this story is almost over. Like two (or maybe three, eh) more chapters and an epilogue and then over. Will it be a happy ending or will all Nodoka's efforts be for nothing? I'm feeling a bit sadistic so who knows...

;D

Peace out.


	37. I'm With You

Why hello, dear readers. It's been too long, hasn't it? I lost a lot of inspiration and motivation for a while, but it's slowly returning. :)

**XXXXXX**

Episode 37 of Luckiest Loser

I'm With You

My eyes quickly widened until they looked they were as big an tennis balls in my skull when I had realized what I had done.

_Wait...what did I just do?_

I saw a visible light pink blush appear on his cheeks. I couldn't tell if it was because he was as equally embarrassed as I was or if it was because my actions had caught him off guard. Either way, he still seemed stunned at my sudden audacity, well, as stunned as a typically expressionless person could look.

I let my hands drop to my sides and took a few shaky steps back.

There were noticeable creases in his forehead from his raised eyebrows.

"I'm sorry," I stuttered pathetically as I fiddled with my fingers. "I didn't mean to...I wasn't thinking...I, um..." My mind was reeling faster than I could form words out of my mouth. My sentences became incoherent gibberish as I tried to grasp what I wanted to say.

He stood in front of me silently, his dark eyes focused only on me.

I buried my face in my hands in shame as I tried to articulate my thoughts clearly to him. "I was just so caught up...I just..."

I froze when I felt his warm hand brush the side of my face. I shifted my gaze upwards until I met his eyes.

I wanted to lean my face into his palm and nuzzle against it for comfort, but I was too abashed to act on my instincts. Instead, I bit my bottom lip nervously. The next move was up to him and I had no idea what he was thinking.

Would he either accept my feelings or reject me again?

After a few tense minutes, he retracted his hand and reached into his pants pocket.

He pulled a pair of elegant hair ornaments that were styled elegantly in the fashion of red, pink, and white colored plum blossoms with light yellow centers. He reached forward and brushed back some of my hair on the right side of my face before putting the hairpiece in place. The palms of his hands grazed my cheeks as he did so and I held my breath. I felt like my heart was going to leap out of my throat, which would've made one big, bloody mess.

"I thought they suited you," he explained in his normal, curt manner. He let his fingers run down my hair after putting the second hair ornament in place.

I looked down at my shoes, embarrassed as I realized that he really had put a lot of thought into the gift. "T-thank you."

"And umm," he shifted awkwardly as he reached into his other pocket and pulled out what at first I thought was an odd scrap of paper, but very quickly realized was a photo. "I should probably return this to you." As I took the photo from him he covered the lower half of his face with his hand.

I looked down at the photo in my hands. It the was the middle school picture of me that my idiot cousin had tucked into Mori's pocket weeks earlier. Shyly, I shifted my gaze back up towards him.

"I'm sorry my cousin forced such a terrible picture onto you," I said in a melancholy tone. I sighed. "I looked like an idiot back then, right?"

"No, it's not that..." he trailed off as he lowered his hand away from his face. With his hand away from his face I could see that his cheeks were flushed in embarrassment. "Y-you look cute."

_C-cute?_

My heart began beating at a frantic pace. I could feel my cheeks getting hot. My face was probably redder than a tomato after hearing those words.

"So," he began in a low voice, "where do we go from here?"

The air around us was tense again. He brought up a valid point, how should we proceed from here? I had just confessed to him and his actions spoke louder than words that he was clearly returning my affections for him with equally strong feelings.

I never imagined that when I first met him that our relationship would ever get to this point. He always seemed to be sure of himself and had a grip of what was going on around him even though he hardly spoke a word unless necessary. I had only seen him briefly lose his calm composure a handful of times before when I had been in danger or when there had been awkward moments between us.

It occurred to me that Mori was probably as anxious and nervous as I was. These feelings were new to both of us. Both of us were going to have to explore the possibilities of our relationship together to see where these feelings would take us.

I tucked the picture into my pocket and smiled up at him. The fact that I was still in my school uniform and I had little scratches and bruises on my arms and knees from when I had tripped earlier didn't bother me at all anymore.

Feeling more confident than I had ever felt before, I seized the moment and took his hand. "I know a nice little restaurant downtown that makes great traditional Japanese dishes, do you want to go there for lunch tomorrow?"

My grin widened when I saw the edges of his lips curl up into a small smile and his entire face lit up.

He nodded. "Ah."

**XXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _Bad Romance _by Lady Gaga (YES, I LOVE IT. DON'T JUDGE MEEEEEE.)

One more chapter and _maybe _an epilogue. Depends. You have no idea how tempted I was to make this chapter just a dream Nodoka had, but that would have been too cruel. I consciously decided to keep this chapter short and simple. There was a much longer version of this chapter, but it was so sappy and so over the top lovey-dovey that I cringed inwardly every time I reread it. So I decided to censor myself a bit.

And funnily enough, I have a part time job at a bakery. Now I actually knows what goes on at a busy bakery, which would have been helpful thirty or so chapters ago when I started this story. ):

ILU ALL LIKE CRAZY CAKES FOR READING/REVIEWING THIS FAR. THANK YOU, YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME.

Peace out.

p.s. My KyoyaXOC story will be out soon! I'm excited to **finally** write about a different Host club character.


	38. Watch Over Me

Episode 38 of Luckiest Loser

Watch Over Me

_ "What were you even thinking?" my mother snarled as she loomed over my seated figure. She was like a dangerous fire-breathing dragon swooping around her prey while blowing tendrils of white, hot smoke through her flared nostrils._

_ My fingers nervously curled around the hem of my shirt. Neither my brother or sister were present to help me out of my present predicament or able to help me win any sympathy from my beastly mother._

_ I had never seen her so incensed before in my life. Then again, I had never so blatantly defied her before until now._

_ "Well?" she paused in front of me, hands at her hips, and lips downturned in disgrace._

_ I bowed my head, "I-"_

_ "I don't want to hear it!" With a violent hand movement, which for a moment I thought was going to strike me across the face, she pointed upstairs with an authoritative index finger. "Go to your room! Your father and I need to discuss what to do with you."_

_ I stood up without uttering a single word, defeated and feeling like a wounded cat. I left the kitchen wordlessly, but I was screaming vulgar obscenities in my mind._

_ As I made my way up the stairs to my bedroom, I could hear my parents' venomous whispers from down below._

_ "Osen never gave us this kind of trouble."_

_ "Her grades may have improved, but her attitude certainly hasn't changed."_

_ "She's setting a bad example for Tetsushi. I don't know if I want her living here anymore..."_

_ I held my hands against my ears until I got to my bedroom. After loudly slamming the door, I sank to the ground. I could feel the tears swelling up in my eyes._

_ This was not fair. _

_ None of it was fair. _

_ It would never be fair._

_

* * *

_

"Ugh! Why are all these boxes so heavy!" I exclaimed in exasperation as I dropped the large cardboard box I had been carrying onto the floor in the middle of the hallway next to half a dozen more boxes. My back ached and my hands hurt. I could have just as easily hired somebody else to move all my stuff for me or ask for help, but I was determined to do it on my own. Even though I had wanted to do it, I still felt the need to vocalize my loud complaints and frustrations into the empty air around me.

I hadn't exactly planned to move out of my parents' house at the tender young age of seventeen, but we had all agreed (in a surprisingly civil manner) that it would be for the best. I would still be allowed to work at the bakery in order to earn money to pay for my rent and utilities, but that was it. I wanted nothing to do with my parents anymore other than that and it was no surprise to find that the feeling was mutual on their end. My siblings had of course voiced their concerns, but we all knew that this decision would benefit everyone and give all of us some peace of mind.

I sat down on the box and leaned back on my hands to take a brief break. My new apartment was on the second floor of a long rectangular building that was across the street from a small park. All I had to do was pop my head out of my front doorway and I could see a supermarket and a laundromat down the street on the other side of the road between the apartment building and the park. The neighborhood was nice too, lots of young families with one or two young children occupied most of the apartments next to and below mine. I was lucky to have found such a good place and the landlord was practically a saint. After I had told her my story she had swept me up into a suffocating bear hug and offered me a deal on the rent after saying I was "a terribly, unlucky, poor, downtrodden girl".

I suppose even a loser like me got lucky sometimes even if my luck mostly happened to spring up right after some misfortune of mine.

"Good afternoon." A very familiar, deep voice greeted me, disengaging me from my thoughts.

I swiveled my head around to see Takashi standing outside my door. He had his hands in his jacket pockets and he was wearing dark denim jeans. His black hair was more unkempt than usual these days, ever since he had started college he seemed to appear more rugged looking. Some days I would even catch him with a bit of beard stubble. I guess without the consistent pestering of Tamaki and the Twins from the Host Club he didn't bother so much with always looking polished. I didn't mind at all though, I kind of preferred his new slightly unkempt style.

I ran a hand through my hair. "Good afternoon." I felt so ordinary and Plain Jane in comparison to him. Even if he looked unkempt, he was still one of the best looking guys I had ever laid my eyes on.

We had only been dating for a month, but I still felt very anxious and unsure around him. I could tell by the way he was awkwardly standing in the doorway to my new apartment that he felt the same.

It was rather difficult to make time for our relationship with all the craziness that took place in the past month after the party, but we managed. I didn't get to see him as often as I would have liked, but I adored how he would pop in to check on me like this without me having to ask him to.

He cocked his head to the side. "Do you need any help?"

"Nope. I just brought in the last of the boxes, my sister gave me a ride over here earlier so I could start settling in." I walked over to him and playfully hooked my index fingers around his belt loops and tugged him closer. "Thanks for the offer though."

He smiled. "Do you want to go out to lunch then?"

I very quickly glanced over my shoulders at the pile of unpacked boxes behind me. It was well past noon and I was famished and tired. I didn't nearly have enough energy to unpack all of them now and it would be even more difficult considering I had an immense lack of furniture in the new apartment.

I returned my gaze back to Takashi. "Yeah, that would be great."

* * *

The little restaurant we found had pleasant atmosphere and was within walking distance of my new apartment. It was definitely a family orientated place, it had that colorful charm to it that made it appealing.

The bubbly little hostess that greeted us warmly when we entered the establishment sat us in a booth by the window that looked out to the street. It was lucky that we got inside when we did because it had just started drizzling outside. I watched as little raindrops splattered against the glass window before racing downwards.

"Oh, is this your little sister?" the waitress who came over to take our orders asked sweetly as she eyed Takashi with interest. "Should I bring some crayons and a children's menu over for her?"

I felt a vein on my forehead tick in frustration. "I'm his girlfriend," I muttered under my breath as I gave her a short piercing glare.

She instantly straightened up in surprise. "Oh! I'm sorry! I just thought since you look so little..." Her voice really didn't sound that apologetic at all.

_Excuses, excuses. You were just trying to flirt with him._ Was what I really wanted to say to her, but I thought better of it and brushed it off. "It's alright, don't worry about it." I was probably going to have to put up with more frivolous girls like her in the future if I continued dating Takashi so I should start getting used to it.

She fixed her apron and regained her composure as she took a small notepad and a pen out of her front pocket. "Is there anything I can bring you to drink?"

"Ah, yes," my eyes quickly scanned the menu in my hands. "I'll have tea, please."

"And you sir?"

"Coffee, please."

"Just coffee?" I tilted my head to the side as the waitress left with our drink order. "I thought you preferred tea."

Takashi folded his arms and rested them on top of the table. "I do."

It was then that I finally noticed the slight dark bags under his eyes. "You haven't been getting much sleep, right?"

"Ah," he nodded.

He was so tired and yet he still came over to see me? I bit my bottom lip, between him starting university, worrying about how Hunny's studies were going overseas, and me moving out of my parents' house he had burdened himself with a lot of unnecessary things.

"You do look rather young," Takashi said with stoic face. He was trying to tease me, wasn't he?

I squished my cheeks up and down with my hands. "I can't help it if I have a slight baby face and that I'm short, but I definitely can't pass as your younger sister. The nerve of that waitress!"

Takashi sighed and chuckled at the same time.

We spent the time waiting for our drinks chatting about normal, everyday things. It was a pleasant change of pace opposed to our usual topics, which was more often than not about my crazy life and where Kei had disappeared to. Takashi never revealed to me what he had said to Kei that one fateful day during my last confrontation with him and I had the feeling that he was never going to divulge it to me at this point in time.

Instead we talked about Takashi's university and his schoolwork. When I first met him, I was so uneasy around him due to his quiet, restrained nature, but now he seemed much more willing to open up about his everyday life. I even learned that he had taken in two pets, a raccoon and a chicken. I loved learning more about him, he was so much more interesting and quirky than he looked at first glance.

After the waitress served us our drinks and took our food order, our conversation shifted back to its usual routine. I could understand why Takashi would be worried about me living on my own. I wasn't exactly a trained martial artist like he was and I was certainly lacking in street smarts, but I was looking at this as an experience for me to learn and mature as a person. I certainly wasn't going to grow up into a healthy minded individual if I continued to live in that suffocating, restrained environment that was my parents' house.

"It's a big adjustment to make," he noted nonchalantly. His calm tone betrayed his true feelings. I could see the worry etched onto his face by seeing his crinkled brows and pursed lips every time we discussed it.

"I think it'll be just fine. I'm sure there are times when I'll feel lonely living by myself, but things seems to be moving in a good direction for now." I assured him. I knew he was worried about me living on my own even though he had been helping me every step of the way. "For once, I think every thing's going to turn out well for me. It was my idea after all. You probably wouldn't have encourage me to follow through with it if you thought it wouldn't turn out well, right?"

He remained quiet as if to indicate some disagreement with what I had said. Moving out my parents' house was a sink or swim situation for me. I would either thrive under my new found independence or revert back to my old timid, spineless self.

"If you need anything just call me," Takashi said as he leaned back in his chair and drank his coffee.

"Y-yes," I replied nervously, wondering if it really was okay to rely on him this much. He had even gone out of his way and bought me my own cellphone so we could keep in touch. He was also the one who helped me find an apartment, he had even paid for my security deposit and first month's rent.

He seemed to pick up on my uneasiness. "I'm doing these things because I want to, Nodoka."

I put my hands in my lap and fidgeted a bit as I lowered my gaze to the table. "I know, but you've already done so much for me that I can't possibly think of-"

"Nodoka," he began sternly, he folded his arms on the table and leaned in towards me, "I want to help you."

He was so stubborn.

I threw my hands up in the air in defeat. "Fine, fine."

How could I say no when he made that determined face at me? It was so endearing and part of me felt completely flattered that he would do so much for me because of how he felt about me. The other part of me was just as stubborn as he was.

"What are you going to do about school?" he asked after a couple of moments of silence.

"I'm planning on graduating high school. I still have two years of school left ahead of me because I had to repeat a year so I'll follow through with that, but I don't think college is for me." I could see a slight scowl grace his face. I sighed. "I was thinking of going to culinary school and then trying my luck as a pastry chef."

He nodded. I'm sure my life plans sounded trivial in comparison to his. He was studying the theory and philosophy of law at a prestigious university and I was dreaming about baking pastries all day. Sometimes the distance between our lifestyles and upbringings seemed too vast. It would be a miracle if this relationship lasted longer than a few months.

I cupped the warm cup between my hands and took another careful sip, being careful not to scald my tongue. "But, you know," I started thoughtfully in-between sips of tea, "I'm going to try my best, no more half-assed efforts on my part."

Takashi paused for a second before grinning and extending a hand forward to pat the top my head in a caring manner. "I'm glad to hear that." His hand then slowly slid down the side of my head until his warm fingers were cupping my chin.

I could feel the butterflies fluttering around inside my stomach as a dorky love-struck smile crossed my face. His gentle affectionate actions made me so happy, these feelings seemed almost surreal at times.

How could a simple touch from him fill me with such optimism, happiness, and hope?

He wasn't the type to verbally voice his feelings for others, but I sense him conveying his them through his gestures and movements. Every small smile and attentive stare conveyed his feelings stronger than words ever could.

Maybe things would work out. Who says a lowly wannabe pastry chef like me couldn't be with the man of her dreams? After everything I'd been through over the past few months, I was long overdue for some good luck to be heading my way.

I raised my hands up and placed them over his that was caressing my face. His hand was so much larger than mine and his fingers were much longer. This was the strong and gentle hand that had protected me from my mother's wrath and from Kei's fists. I gently squeezed his hand with mine and smiled at him.

_Thank you for everything._

**XXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _All To Myself _by Marianas Trench

It seems Nodoka is a little insecure about their relationship DUN DUN DUNNNNN

Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing this story. :) Just an epilogue and then that it's over for good.

Peace out.


	39. Epilogue: Graduation Day

Epilogue of Luckiest Loser

Graduation Day

Six years could really change a person. Sometimes you don't think you've changed at all, but one day you wake up and realize that everything is different. You realize that _you're_ different and that _you've _changed, but all these things happened so slowly and gradually you hardly noticed.

"He hasn't asked you to marry him yet? That rich giant oaf! What is he good for if he hasn't proposed yet?"

"Arisa, shut up."

Some things, no matter how much time has passed, never change.

"But he's taking you out to that new really fancy French restaurant in Tokyo for dinner tonight, right? That's got to be a sign! Maybe he'll propose to you tonight!"

"I don't really think so, we're both still so young..."

She snorted as she combed a brush through my hair. "Like you're going to do any better than him."

"Arisa, seriously, shut up."

She violently yanked at a piece of my hair. "That's no way to talk to your hairdresser! I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart because today's a big day for you. You're graduating from culinary school and your boyfriend is going to propose to you!"

"He's not proposing!" I shouted and jerked my head right as she was trying to brush through a knot in my hair causing a severe twinge of pain in my scalp.

"Think what you want," Arisa said loftily as she began sectioning my hair off with clips and pulled out a pair of scissors from her apron pocket.

Arisa, who used to work at my parents' bakery, had quit soon after I moved out of their house and applied to beauty school. I was unfortunate enough to be around often enough that she frequently used me to practice new hair styles and cuts. Today was an exception though, I had willingly gone to the salon where she had an apprenticeship to get my hair cut for my graduation. The Hitachiin twins had already burned their bridge with me as my stylists when they decided it would funny to dye my hair a fiery red, a color which took several weeks for me to wash out.

The salon door suddenly burst open with such vigor that I feared it was going to be knocked off its hinges.

"Good morning!" Two devilish voices that haunted my dreams called out from the doorway.

"Ah, Hikaru and Kaoru are here!" Arisa beamed as she narrowly missed cutting off my ear at the sudden distraction.

I groaned. This day just kept getting better and better. No matter how much I dreaded seeing the twins though, nothing quelled the knots forming in my stomach in anticipation for my graduation ceremony.

I watched warily as they gathered together in a far corner while I remained seated in the chair in front of a large circular mirror.

"What do you two think?" Arisa whispered. "Do you think he'll propose tonight?"

"Well, they are going to that restaurant..." one twin started.

"...and then they're going back to his condo later where they're probably going to do a little of this and a little of that." The other twin finished with a haughty smirk on his face.

I could see my cheeks flush a light shade of pink in the mirror. "I have ears you know!"

"Stop trying to look so innocent over there," Arisa scolded me, throwing a sinisterly amused look my way before turning back towards the twins. "I remember how freaked out she was after she did it with him the first time. Stupid girl, she didn't know that a little bit of bleeding is normal after your first-"

"ARISA!" My face turned tomato red due to embarrassment and my mouth was ajar in horror. I didn't want something I told her in confidence to be broadcasted without a second thought to those two devils.

"Oh, puh-lease," Arisa rolled her eyes, "don't make that face at me. We're all mature adults here and we can talk about this without reacting like prude grade school children."

Arisa returned to me and took out her scissors from her pocket once again. I thought she was finally going to begin cutting and styling my hair, but instead she leaned down and whispered into my ear in an curiously evil tone of voice while snipping her scissors in the air menacingly. "So what's he like in the sack? It's normal to want to test drive a car before you buy it, right?"

I made a horribly emotionally violated expression in response. The corners of my lips were down turned, my eyes were wide, my face was completely red, and my forehead had crease lines in it from furrowing my eyebrows in disapproval.

I could hear Hikaru and Kaoru snickering wildly behind us.

"That's it, I'm leaving!" I promptly took the clips out of my hair and ripped off the cape that was fastened around my neck before storming out of the salon.

* * *

I don't think I had ever been so nervous in my life. Well, excluding the time I confessed to Takashi all those years ago...

Part of me had been afraid that my name wouldn't be on the list of graduates or that my diploma would suddenly burst into flames the instant I received it. The latter was just a vivid daydream I had while sitting amongst my classmates and fellow chefs, but I still feared the possibility that everything up until now had been a pleasant dream of sorts and that I would be rocketed back to reality at any moment.

No less than thirty minutes ago, I had been seated amongst my fellow graduating class holding my breath as I waited for my name to be called.

Now that the diploma was in my hands everything felt real. I clutched it between my fingers as if it were going to fall out of my hands at any second. This was what I had been working towards ever since graduating high school, this was proof of my accomplishments.

My grip on it gradually loosened bit by bit as I calmed down.

I ran a hand through my hair, which was styled by Arisa into soft curls, as I stood in the middle of the mob of people with unease as I waited for a familiar face to appear amidst the sea of strangers and my peers.

A flurry of movement in my direction caught my eye.

"Ah, Nodoka-chan! It was so hard to find you in this large crowd!"

I watched with a raised eyebrow as Ranka-san pushed and shoved his way through the crowd of people to get to me.

"Eh? Why are you here, Ranka-san? I didn't invite you."

"What? Don't be so cold and ungrateful, Nodoka-chan!"

Haruhi's father was the same as always. Whether it was coming over to my apartment unannounced for dinner or kidnapping me and holding me hostage so I couldn't make it to class on time just because he felt like it. However, if he hadn't tied me up on that painfully embarrassing day six years ago, I would have never had had a strawberry shortcake land on my head and have met the members of the Host Club who were now permanently intertwined with my life whether I liked it or not. His presence in my life was akin to that of a surrogate parent.

"I even brought you flowers! See!" He held up a cascading bouquet of colorful flowers and shoved it my hands, nearly knocking my pastry arts certificate out of my hands. "I'm so proud of you, back when you were in high school I was so worried you wouldn't amount to anything. You were so gloomy back then." He placed an index finger on his lips and tilted his head. "You've really surprised us all, Nodoka-chan."

"Umm, thanks?" It was good to know that everyone had such low expectations of me. Was that really a compliment?

"Your parents aren't here?" Ranka-san asked with a bit of sensitivity in his voice.

"Well, I invited them, but I guess they decided not to come..." I trailed off, trying to hide my own disappointment. I had never been optimistic that my relationship with them would improve over time, but I had hoped that they would at least show me some sort of support. I had hoped against hope that they would show up, but to no avail.

Ranka-san petted my head as if I were a stray puppy. "It's their loss then if they don't want to acknowledge how much you've accomplished."

"Yeah..."

Ranka-san looked at his watch. "Well, I have a shift in half an hour so I'll see you at party on Sunday then?"

"Ah, yes, I suppose."

I had extended invitations to my graduation to the other members of the Host Club, after all they had done for me I felt they deserved to see what I had done with the strength they had given me. Unfortunately, due to work or travel conflicts, most of them told me that they wouldn't be able to make it. However, Tamaki, in his usual reckless fashion, had taken it upon himself to arrange a party for me on a day when everyone could attend. It was really unfair how much they spoiled me with their kindness when I had so little to give them back in return.

Ranka-san gave me a short tight hug before dashing off, once again rudely shoving the unfortunate souls who stood in front of him out of his way. My eyes trailed after him until he was gone from my sight.

I took a few steps to the side, being careful not to bump into anyone. The crowd was very slowly shrinking as more people left to go to the after party, which I would not be attending due to prior plans.

My eyes began scouring the faces around me for another very familiar one.

It wasn't hard to find him, he towered more than a head above everyone else in the vicinity. I could see his head swiveling back and forth as he looked for me among the crowd of my graduating classmates and their guests.

I raised my arm up as high as I could and happily waved him over. "Takashi, over here!"

His head turned in my direction at the sound of my voice and I saw a small smile tug on the corners of his lips as he walked over to me.

As soon as he came over he bent down and gently kissed my cheek. "Congratulations."

It was nearly impossible for me to stop the grin on my face growing any wider than it already was. Such simple gestures such as that made me feel so spoiled by him. I'm sure we looked like an awkward sight with myself still dressed in my white graduation gown next to him and his unusually tall stature dressed in his business attire. He looked damn good in a suit and tie though, it was one of the many perks that dating a former host club member came with.

"Thank you." I would have liked to have wrapped my arms around him, but my hands were full with carrying my graduation certificate and the bouquet of flowers that Haruhi's father had forcibly given me.

"I'm really proud of you," he said as he caressed my cheek and leaned in towards my face. His lips were only mere centimeters away from mine when a loud, horribly familiar voice rang out, ruining the moment.

"Don't do perverted things with my cousin, Morinozuka." Mamoru chided as marched over with my younger brother in tow. He covered Tetsushi's eyes with his hands. "This little boy here still has virgin eyes and ears, don't taint them."

Takashi immediately pulled back and covered his forehead with his hand in annoyance. Even after years of dating, I knew Takashi would never be fond of Mamoru.

"Crinkly old man, who are you calling a virgin?" Tetsushi barked in retaliation as he bit down on Mamoru's hand. "You can't get a girl because you're an old baldy!" Tetsushi, who was now a freshman in high school, had gotten rather rebellious. Looks like neither of us would be living up to our older sister's reputation. Fortunately for him, he was still the apple of our parents' eyes. However, he had developed into quite a loud mouthed brat and it wasn't uncommon for him and Mamoru to get into shouting matches with one another.

"Who are you calling bald! I still have a head full of hair, you little snot nosed brat!" Mamoru pinched both sides of my younger brother's face and pulled at his cheeks. "You look like you still belong in grade school!"

"Takashi, I think we should slip away while they're distracted..." I mumbled as I tugged at his sleeve and shifted my eyes away from the embarrassing scene of my brother and cousin bickering.

He placed his hand on the middle of my back and guided me away.

"You'd think that today of all days they could stop arguing with one another and be happy for me..." I trailed off when I realized how horribly selfish I sounded. I guess it would take a while longer before all of my cynicism and bitterness would dissolve from my personality.

I was one step closer to my dream. I wasn't just a down on her luck baker anymore. In addition to the diploma for patisserie I received upon graduation, I had an internship at a famous pastry shop in Tokyo. I had also studied abroad for a year in France where I gained invaluable experience and learned about classical pastry arts from the best of the best. I had certainly come a long way on my own despite my less than pleasant upbringing.

Things seemed to be looking too good to be true at the moment.

Takashi's deep voice brought me out of my rambling thoughts.

"Are you ready to go?"

I glanced over my shoulder to see that Mamoru had Tetsushi in a headlock and I stifled a chuckle. So much had changed and yet so much had stayed the same.

I turned my eyes back toward Takashi. "I'm more than ready to get out of here," I said with a whimsical nod of my head. "You know what's weird? Earlier this morning I was talking to Arisa and the twins in the salon and they had this insane notion that you were planning to propose to me tonight..."

Takashi stumbled over his feet and nearly fell, but caught himself. It was as if something had suddenly taken him by surprise.

"Eh, are you alright?" I asked, confused as to what had caused his sudden bout of clumsiness. I knew him well enough to understand that him tripping and losing his balance so uncharacteristically was a sure sign that he was troubled.

He avoided my gaze. "It's nothing." It almost seemed like he was sulking.

"Wait, why are you...ohhh. OH!" My eyes widened.

Did everyone see this coming except for me? Apparently.

My face flushed. Very few things these days concerning Takashi made me blush as often as I did in the past. Takashi was a very traditional kind of guy, it only made sense he would pick an important day to...to...argh! My mind had such a hard time wrapping itself around such a concept. I mean, I was pretty sure it was bound to happen one day, but so soon!

Takashi placed his hand on my head as we walked down towards the parking lot, he seemed to have taken notice of my mental anguish. Placing his hand on my head was a gesture he often did to alleviate tension between us.

"You know," I started shakily after a few minutes of reflection, "I wouldn't mind it if you did pro-"

He covered my mouth with his hand, I could see a faint red tint on his cheeks. "It was supposed to be a surprise."

He was so cute when he was embarrassed. I had to resist the urge to tease him.

"Are you baking anything for the party?" he asked in a murmur, changing the topic. His hand slid down to my waist and he pulled me in against his muscular frame.

"I'm probably going to be hogging your kitchen all of Saturday," I answered with a sideways smile.

"Don't make too many sweets, you'll give Mitsukuni another toothache."

I leaned my head against his side as we walked, we were nearly to his car. "It's hard to prevent that, he practically inhales everything I bake as if it were oxygen. There's really no stopping him, eating sweets is as natural as breathing to him."

"You know I'm trying to get him to cut back on his sugar intake."

"I'm a pastry chef, what do you expect me to make for a party? Beef Stroganoff? Casserole?"

He chuckled and squeezed my waist. "You'll think of something."

"Well, I suppose I could make a some type of fruit cobbler or something instead of cake," I said thoughtfully. "I don't want him to get any more fillings or cavities because all he'll do then is mope around the kitchen and try to raid my ingredients again."

I'm sure that in the future we would have plenty more conversations about Hunny's diet and our worries and fears. I'm sure we'd have conversations about how our day at work went, what to have for dinner, what we wanted to do for the weekend, our dreams, and our hopes.

As certain as I was about some things, there were still so many things that weren't set in stone. Would my parents ever try to come back into my life? Would I find success as a pastry chef? Would we have kids? And if so, how many? What were their names be? Would I be a good mother? Would Takashi and I stay together? Grow old together?

I had never been so curious about my own future especially now that I had someone to share it with. I knew there would be plenty of fights, petty arguments, hurt feelings, and painful times to come, but for now all was well.

**XXXXXX**

Musical Inspiration- _My Temperature's Rising _by The Audition

Looking back on this story, there's so much more I wanted to include, but I'm glad I held myself back from adding in too many unnecessary things. The biggest gripe I had while writing this epilogue was whether or not Mori and Nodoka were still going to be together. Part of me wanted to make the entire story be a learning experience for Nodoka and for them to part ways on good terms, but the other part of me feels like I owe you lovely readers who have been reading this story since its inception three years ago a good ending. Consider this happy ending a type of repentance for my erratic updates. (And, if you didn't understand what Arisa and the twins were implying in the beginning of this chapter then you are too young to be reading this story. XD)

Anyway, this is the end. Thank you so much for reading and all the wonderful, encouraging reviews. I've never particularly thought of myself as a good writer, but I'm glad so many people enjoyed this story. :)

Peace out.

P.S. if you have any questions, feel free to ask. And my KyoyaXOC fic will be up soon, think of it as an indirect sequel or continuation of this story since Nodoka will be making a cameo or two.


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